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Hollis, Seventy Years Ago 



PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS 



—BY- 



HENRY OILMAN LITTLE 



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Grinnell, Iowa 

Ray & MacDonald, Printers 

i8g4 



Copyright, 1894 
BY HENRY G. LITTLE 



^ebtcatet* to the ^entortj of 



PREFACE 



This little book is a reprint of a series of let- 
ters published during the years 1891 and 1892 
in The Mollis Times, then edited by Mr. J. C. 
Hildreth. As the writing of the letters was un- 
dertaken at the suggestion of Hollis friends, so 
the gathering of them into more permanent 
form is at the instance of various readers whose 
kindly appreciation of my modest efforts has 
been most grateful, though it has sometimes 
seemed to be in excess of their deserts. 

Some extracts from a few of the many com- 
mendatory letters received have been inserted 
as an Appendix, to show how deep is the af- 
fection of the children of Hollis for the old 



VI PREFACE. 

home and their interest in the manners and 
customs of her earlier days, as well as to fur- 
nish an explanation for this second appearance 
of the Letters before the public. 

One shadow falls upon the final pages in the 
sorrowful tidings, which reach me while they 
are in press, of the death of my old and valued 
friend, Luther Prescott Hubbard, of Greenwich, 
Conn. But for his warm and persistent en- 
couragement, this book would not have been. 
May it help to preserve the memory of his true 
and worthy life. 

HENRY OILMAN LITTLE. 

Grinnell, Iowa, October, 1894. 



C O NTENTS. 



I. 

PAGE. 

The Hollis Meeting-house. Pastor; Choir; Tith- 

ing-men. Sabbath Customs ii 

II. 

Deacons; Physicians; The Lawyer. Stores and 

"Taverns." Mechanics; Farmers 21 



III. 
New Hampshire Crops. A Hollis Home 27 



IV. 

Beaver Brook School District. One of the 

Teachers 38 

V. 
Hollis Holidays 45 

vii 



VI II CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

VI. 
Mollis Morals 53 



VII. 
Some of the Homes near the Center 6i 

VIII. 
The Hubbard Family 68 

IX. 
The Tenney Home and Family 75 

X. 

Families in the South part of Town. The 

Worcesters 88 

XI. 
Families in various parts of Town 98 

XII. 

The Family of Deacon Daniel Emerson; of Dea- 
con William Emerson. Hannah French. 
Bringing the Newspapers. Dancing Schools 
in Hollis no 



CONTENTS. IX 



PAGE 
XIII. 



The Eastman, Farley, Hardy, and other Families. _ 121 

XIV. 
Stephen Farley and Family 132 

XV. 
Beaver Brook School District again 137 

XVI. 
Families in the North-West School District 145 

XVII. 

The Patch Corner District, Families in various 

parts of Town 153 

XVIII. 
The Bradbury Family 162 

XIX. 
The Blood Family 170 

XX. 

Descendants of Hollis Families in the West 175 



X CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

XXI. 
The Little Family i8i 



XXII. 
The North-East School District 187 

XXIII. 
Families North of the Center of Town ». 195 

XXIV. 

The Hillsborough County Fair. Anecdote of 

Rev. Mr. Hill 202 

XXV. 

Ralph Emerson and his Descendants. 

Farewell 210 

Appendix 221 

Index 227 



MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 



The varied experiences of four score years 
have not at all dimmed the memory of my 
childhood's home, and to recall the scenes 
amid which my early days were passed, and 
the events which impressed my youthful mind 
is one of the delights of an old age passed in 
other and far different surroundings. 

As in most New England towns, the meet- 
ing-house was the center of our village life. I 
remember it as a comparatively new building, 
for it was erected in 1804. Though a plain and 
unpretending structure, it was perhaps impos- 
ing from its very simplicity, and was a source 
of some pride to the citizens. The barn-like 
11 



12 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

interior was nearly filled with the old-fashioned 
high, square pews, but on either side of the 
center aisle, near the pulpit, extended the long 
free seats,— that on the east for the old ladies, 
that on the west for the men, while directly in 
front of the preacher was the deacons' seat. 
Galleries occupied three sides of the entire 
room, with a row of square pews against the 
wall, which were sold like those below. The 
singers' seats filled the south side, opposite the 
pulpit. The remaining seats in the gallery 
were free, and the men and boys occupying 
those on the west were separated by the whole 
width of the building from the women and 
girls sitting on the east side. 

Two flights of steps, some ten in number, led 
from the floor up to the narrow pulpit on the 
north side of the room, and there the minister 
was carefully shut in by solid doors, like a pris- 
oner in the dock. 

Everything about the meeting-house was se- 
verely plain. I can recall no attempt at orna- 
ment unless it be the mysterious painting upon 
the ceiling in the northwest corner. I never 
understood the design, but one of the worthy 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 1 3 

sons of Hollis, Ralph A. Tenney, Esq., of Chi- 
cago, thus refers to it in an address made a few 
years ago: "Every Sabbath day, hot or cold, 
wet or dry, found us in the old square pews, 
with our best bibs and tuckers on, straightening 
out our faces for a good plump one-hour-and- 
a-half sermon, not one idea, word or syllable 
of which could we understand. To vary the 
monotony, we children would occasionally let 
our eyes wander up to the northwest corner of 
the ceiling of the church, where had been 
painted a very black thunder-cloud, the fumes 
of which we imagined we could smell. This 
painting was intended to represent the wrath 
of God on the unrepentant sinner's head. That 
was all the fun we had, but at that we did not 
dare to smile for fear of the tithing-man with 
his long pole." 

i\\. the time I refer to, the Rev. Eli Smith 
was pastor of the church. He was a fearless, 
energetic and able man, and a good, successful 
minister of the Gospel. During his long pas- 
torate of thirty-seven years he received more 
than four hundred members into the church. 
He was a Calvinist of the extreme type, and 



14 MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

preached the stern doctrines of that school 
with unflinching faithfulness. He taught us to 
believe in a personal devil, a frightful monster 
to our childish imaginations, going about as a 
roaring lion seeking to devour our quaking 
souls; and in the terrors of a veritable hell, with 
ils eternal punishment for all the wicked. But 
he did not forget to set before us also the glo- 
ries of the Heavenly Land prepared for the 
righteous, and the blessed truth of a crucified 
Redeemer. 

There was a large choir of good singers, led 
by Alpheus Eastman, a noted singer and teacher 
for many years of the village singing school. 

Aunt Hannah Worcester was the chief sopra- 
no, but there was at the time a large amount of 
musical talent in the town upon which to draw 
for the service of song. Among the singers 
there were Sandersons, Pools, Goulds, Hales, 
Conants, Emersons, Parleys, Worcesters and 
Eastmans. There was also Taylor Wright, 
whom many must yet remember, and a good 
sprinkling of Hardys and other well-known 
families. 

One notable event connected with the choir, 




"^^^^^^^^ 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I 5 

I well remember. It was rumored that Aunt 
Hannah Worcester was soon to be missed from 
her place in "the seats," that, in fact, she was 
going to be married. The good lady was a 
maiden of mature years who had served in the 
choir for perhaps a quarter of a century. She 
was one of those cordial, kindly souls, whom 
everybody loved, and it was felt that, in a sense, 
she belonged to the town. All insisted that 
the wedding must take place in the meeting- 
house. It was so decided. The day came and 
nearly the whole town was assembled in the 
church. The bride walked up the aisle leaning 
upon the arm ot her intended husband, Deacon 
Stephen Thurston, of Bedford, N. H. As they 
approached the pulpit the choir struck up an 
anthem, beginning with the words, growing 
more emphatic with each repetition, *T waited 
patiently, I waited patiently, I waited patiently 
for the Lord!" The smile which rippled 
through the house we boys did not then under- 
stand. Its meaning has dawned upon some of 
us since. 

With minister, deacons, and choir, the con- 
gregation was not even yet ready for divine 



l6 MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

service; there must be also four tithing-men, 
two above and two below, to keep the boys in 
order. 

HoUis people were a church-going people; 
they had been trained to it from the earliest 
settlement of the town. They came from all 
directions, some in chaises, some in plain wag- 
ons, some, in winter, with oxen and sleds, many 
on foot. They came for two long services; 
there was a sermon m the morning and another 
in the afternoon. There were no Sabbath 
schools then, and only a short intermission at 
noon. No provision was made for warming 
the meeting-house, but the fervor of religious 
devotion defied even the rigor of a New Hamp- 
shire winter. It was, however, assisted by the 
comforting glow of half a hundred tiny foot- 
stoves, brought by the different families and 
filled with fresh coals at noon from the hospi- 
table fire-places of the neighboring homes. 
The meeting-house was provided with neither 
clock nor bell, but promptly at the moment 
good Mr. Smith walked up the aisle, his blessed 
wife, Anna Emerson Smith, at his side. The 
meeting begins. Before the long prayer a list 



MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 17 

of notes is generally read ;• often there are many 
of these, some asking prayers for the sick, some 
giving thanks for recovery from illness, others 
having reference to various blessings or afflic- 
tions. After the birth of every child a note 
is read from the pulpit, worded after this mod- 
est fashion: "A B and wife desire to return 
thanks to God for recent favors." The laro-e 
families of those days made such acknowledg- 
ments numerous and frequent. It was custom- 
ary for the congregation to rise and stand dur- 
ing prayer, and, to furnish more room in the 
pews for this exercise, the seats were provided 
with hinges, by means of which they were turn- 
ed up against the back. The turning down of 
the seats at the close of the prayer was like the 
clatter of small artillery. The congregation 
now put up the leaning boards— narrow shelves 
extending around the pews in front of the wor- 
shippers, upon which they might rest their 
books or their elbows— and adjust themselves 
to give careful attention to the sermon. No 
one moves from his seat, save the watchful 
tithing-men, who sometimes walk softly about 
the aisles to quiet the wriggling or whisperincr 



l8 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

boys who threaten to disturb the attention of 
their elders. We boys looked with dread upon 
these mighty officers, and turned pale as they 
approached. Since they so promptly checked 
a gentle whisper or harmless giggle from one 
of ourselves, we ventured timidly to wonder 
why they seemed to take no notice of that man 
in the gallery (said by the neighbors to be a 
"little off" in his mind), when he called out 
right in sacred sermon time, "Be still a whis- 
pering, 'Feus Eastman!" or why they did not 
rebuke a certain prominent and wealthy citizen 
of the town for what looked to our astonished 
eyes an offence even more heinous than out- 
right laughter in meeting. 

I think I must tell that story of peppery Mr. 
Daniel Merrill, for it made a great impression 
on my boyish mind. 

It seems that during the war of 1812, in Hol- 
lis as elsewhere, the people were deeply stirred 
in respect to the questions involved and the 
policy of our government, and took there, as 
elsewhere, diverse views, according to individ- 
ual temperaments, associations and habits of 
thought; still, they were, in the main, united 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I9 

in a determined hostility toward England and 
a vigorous support of the war. In one of Rev. 
Eli Smith's pulpit discourses mention was 
made of a party growing up in the nation which 
demanded peace on easy terms (to England), 
or peace at any price. To the warm patriot- 
ism and warlike temper of worthy Mr. Merrill 
the reverend gentleman (although well known 
far and near as an earnest supporter of the 
war) seemed to allude to these luke-warm, 
weak-kneed Americans in a tone savoring too 
much of sympathy or too little of that stern 
denunciation which he deemed fit. At any 
rate his hot blood took fire, and he vowed 
in vigorous terms that from that day forth 
never should any coin of his go to swell the 
weekly collection in that church. Perhaps, in 
the lapse of time, the regular and persistent 
passing of the deacon's hat before his face had 
roused in his heart a growing irritation, till at 
last the inner turmoil must perforce have vent. 
I remember well the horror with which I saw 
the blow he struck at Deacon Burge's bell- 
crowned hat — years after the war had closed — 
a blow which made the pennies, fourpences, 



20 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

ha'pennies, ninepences and pistareens ring, 
while he exclaimed loudly, "Keep that hat out 
of my pew!" 

At the close of the afternoon service all hast- 
en home to partake of a plentiful dinner of 
baked beans and brown bread, delicious with 
the sweet, mellow flavor, imparted only by the 
long, slow baking of twenty-four hours in the 
great brick oven. 

Dinner over, the children are gathered to re- 
cite the Assembly catechism, and no one is ex- 
cused from this exercise; even the little one 
just beginning to talk must repeat the ponder- 
ous words of theological wisdom after the pa- 
rent. Our Sabbath did not, as in some portions 
of New England, begin and end with the going 
down of the sun, making Saturday evening sa- 
cred time, while the Sunday twilight was free 
to sport and neighborly gossip. In the even- 
ing of our Sabbath all who do not live at too 
great a distance, repair to the Center school- 
house for the meeting of prayer and confer- 
ence. This ends the exercises of a Sabbath of 
long ago. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 21 



II. 



Our Hollis church had five excellent Dea- 
cons. Usually it was either Deacon Burge or 
Deacon Jewett who led the conference meet- 
ing, in the absence of the pastor. Deacon 
Burge was one of the every-day Christians, a 
man in whom every one had confidence, and 
being of a gentle, quiet, placid disposition, I 
have heard it said that he was not much dis- 
turbed when a wayfaring man whom he had 
arrested for traveling on the Sabbath, and 
lodged in his own house, was found, when Mon- 
day morning dawned, to have escaped through 
his chamber window in the night, taking his 
bedclothes with him. Deacon Jewett was of a 
more nervous and ardent temperament, equally 
earnest in his Christian character, but less pa- 
tient and calm than Deacon Burge. Of the 
five I knew Deacon Hardy best. I often watch- 
ed the flying sparks from his blacksmith's forge 
or the busy blows from his strong arm. He 
had always a kind word for the boys. He was 



22 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

an earnest, solemn man, as deacons were ex- 
pected to be in those days, but we did not fear 
and shun him. As several of us little fellows 
were walking to conference meeting one bright 
Sabbath evening, we fell in with Deacon Hardy 
on his way thither also. Some one remarked 
upon the beauty of the night, and how well I 
remember his solemn answer: "Yes, it is a 
beautiful night, indeed, but there is a great 
storm of wrath gathering, which will fall upon 
the heads of all the impenitent!" Did he 
think, I wonder, that that short sermon would 
be fresh in the mind of one of his hearers sev- 
enty years after? Of Deacon Farley and Dea- 
con Woods I knew less, as they lived in re- 
mote parts of the town. 

The ministers, the doctors and the lawyers 
were the great men of a New England town. 
Boys of my time were taught to take off their 
hats and bow respectfully to all men whom 
they met on the street, while girls dropped 
their modest courtesies. But for the profes- 
sional dignitaries our obeisance were most 
marked and deferential. Our physicians were 
Noah Hardy, William Hale and Oliver Scrip- 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 23 

ture, and the first two were natives of Hollis. 
They all spent their lives in the practice of 
medicine at fifty cents a visit, if the distance 
was not above a mile, and all died in Hollis. 
To the children they were beings of wonderful 
and mysterious learning and power. When 
they visited our homes we gathered shyly 
around watching for chance glimpses into the 
awful depths of the fascinating saddle-bags. 
From thence, we knew, came the dreaded tooth- 
pullers, the lancets, the pill-boxes, and the 
bottles with mixtures of varying degrees of 
disagreeableness; Life and Death themselves 
seemed to be shut up in those marvelous sad- 
dle-bags. Dr. Hardy and Dr. Scripture died 
childless, but Dr. Hale reared a large family. 

The one Hollis lawyer the children all fear- 
ed. We had somehow gotten the notion that 
"Squire Mark," as he was called, was the man 
who sent people to jail. But we had no reason 
to fear Benjamin Mark Farley, Esq. He was 
a good man, a grand man, a safe, able lawyer, 
with few equals at the bar. He gave sound 
counsel, which often kept the Hollis people 
out of lawsuits. 



24 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

Perhaps next after the professional men 
stood the merchants or storekeepers. One of 
these was Ambrose Gould, who for many years 
was to be found in the store on the corner, 
where his sign announced "English and West 
India Goods" for sale. His goods were all 
brought from Boston, and generally with ox 
teams. His sales from the barrel of rum were 
quite as free and open as those of codfish or 
sugar. Along with his mercantile duties he 
united those of postmaster. I recall that he 
removed after a time to Hardscrabble. An- 
other store or shop was kept in the northeast 
room of the present parsonage by Mrs. Emer- 
son, widow of Rev. Daniel Emerson. So care- 
fully did the prudent woman manage her small 
business, that from its profits she was able to 
bring up her family of four sons and one daugh- 
ter. Two of the sons were college graduates, 
and have recently died — Benjamin at Nashua, 
and Rev. Joseph Emerson at Andover. Mrs. 
Cutter, wife of Dr. Benoni Cutter, who lived a 
little south of Mrs. Emerson, was also left a 
widow with six children, and she also must ex- 
ercise the closest economy in bringing up her 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 25 

family. As some of the goods in Mrs. Emer- 
son's store were marked ninepence {12}^ cts.), 
it was solemnly agreed between the two wid- 
ows that the half-cent should belong to each 
regularly in turn. One other store I remem- 
ber, which was opened by Joseph Patch, two 
miles north of town. 

The principal tavern was kept by Nehemiah 
Woods, in the house south of the present High 
School building. Dr. Scripture succeeded him 
at the same place. Later on, Mr. B. G. Cutter 
opened a store and tavern in the Price house. 
Each of them kept an open bar and sold liquors 
to travelers and townsmen without the slight- 
est detriment to his standing in the community. 
Tavern signs also hung before the residences 
of Noah Hardy and William Hale. 

Blacksmithing seems to have been an impor- 
tant business in Hollis. I remember several 
shops. Dea. Enos Hardy carried on one a lit- 
tle north of the village; Charles Eastman, one 
near Dea. Jewett's, at the Pool Corner; James 
Parker, one at Patch's Corner. There w^ere 
also shops at Fog End, and I think at Brim- 
stone. 



26 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

Mr. Josiah Conant was a cabinet-maker, and 
Nathan Thayer was the painter. Capt, Page 
Farley was the only tanner; Isaac Farley and 
Elias Conant were wheelwrights; Benjamin 
Messer one of the carpenters; Abijah Gould 
repaired clocks and watches for the villagers; 
Samuel Quaid was our harness-maker; Thomas 
Cummings and Sewell Butterfield were shoe- 
makers. 

But by far the larger part of our population 
was engaged in farming. A great variety of 
crops was cultivated, each farmer striving to 
supply the needs of his own family from his 
own land. The rye and the corn for their bread, 
and the vegetables for summer and winter, 
grew upon their own acres, as did the wool and 
flax for their clothing. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 2/ 



III. 



The rugged New Hampshire land, with its 
thin and stony soil, was never favorable to farm- 
ing. "What do you raise in this barren coun- 
try?" exclaimed a visitor, "We raise men," 
was the prompt reply, which has become his- 
toric. Let the annals of the one little country 
town of Hollis bear witness to its truth. From 
the poor, little, unproductive farms of that hill 
country she has sent forth to the world the 
product of which it stood most in need. She 
never raised any other crop to boast of, but 
she may well be proud of her men. 

There could not be much wealth in such a 
village. Judged by standards of to-day, all 
were poor; but judged by the truest and best 
standard, I think all were rich, for we were all 
busy, contented and happy. 

Many a Hollis home was more luxurious 
than mine and many were poorer; yet there 
were none of the villagers with whom we could 
not meet upon equal terms, and there were 



28 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

none who did not seem to feel that the interest 
of one was the interest of all, and that each had 
his responsible share in our common village 
life. 

Would that such safe and happy conditions 
might return to our uneasy land! 

Perhaps the home into which I was born was 
below rather than above the average of Hollis 
homes in material comforts, still it is a fairly 
representative one. My father's comfortable 
frame house of seven rooms stood upon one 
side of his rough little farm of sixty-two acres, 
and fronted a quiet lane leading to the main 
road. Some of the frame dwellings in town 
were shingled from top to bottom, and so dur- 
able were such buildings that I have known in 
New England those which have stood for a 
century and a half without reshingling. Our 
house, however, was not so defended from the 
weather. The five rooms on the ground floor 
were made warm with plaster, and all but one 
had its fire-place; but in the chambers where 
we children slept there were only the bare 
rafters above our heads, and sometimes the wild 
winter winds would drive the snow under the 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 29 

shingles of the roof to sift down as a downy 
coverlet upon our beds. 

The large kitchen was living and working 
room for the whole family. The great fire- 
place with the roomy brick oven occupied near- 
ly one side of the room. It had big, iron fire- 
dogs and was provided with a crane and nu- 
merous pot-hooks, for all the cooking was done 
before the open fire or in the great oven. 
Joints of meat were hung by cords before the 
fire with dripping-pan beneath, while one of 
the children was charged with the duty of con- 
stantly turning the meat with stick or poker, 
that it might roast evenly. Across the chim- 
ney, above the high mantel, hung festoons of 
dried apples, and thick rings of dried pumpkin 
hung upon a long pole. A plain chest of draw- 
ers stood on one side, and my mother had, be- 
sides, one nicely finished bureau, which in after 
years made the long journey to the west. The 
old-fashioned dresser with its open shelves oc- 
cupied a recess in the wall. It held the dishes 
in daily use, a few wooden trenchers, but more 
of the pewter plates and dishes, polished and 
shining as silver, and the necessary crockery, 



30 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

the big glass salt-cellar always placed in the 
center of the table, with a little nice cut glass- 
ware. A china cupboard in the parlor held 
my mother's choicest pieces of china and glass, 
too precious for frequent use. The indispen- 
sable spinning wheels for flax and wool were 
also a part of our kitchen furniture. There were 
a rocking chair or two, a few tables and com- 
mon chairs with home-made bottoms of flag 
or rushes or strips of bark, to complete the 
simple furnishing. 

At first, I recollect, we had no clock, but 
measured the hours by means of my mother's 
"noon mark" on the kitchen window sill and 
the ancient sun-dial which stood on one corner 
of the well curb near the house. Later a tall 
clock found its way into the kitchen. 

Our kitchen floor never had a carpet, but 
once a week it was freshly covered with clean, 
shining, white sand from the river bank. Some- 
times the sand was spread in graceful waves or 
curves by the skillful drawing of a broom across 
it. It was an inviting, cheerful room, that old 
kitchen. It had the charm which many a state- 
ly drawing-room lacks, with all its artistic fur- 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 3 1 

niture and costly ornaments — the charm of 
homely comfort and daily, happy living. It 
was here that the family life went on. Here 
our meals were cooked and eaten; our clothing 
spun from our own wool and flax, and woven 
and sewed into shape. Here lessons were stud- 
ied and our few books and the one weekly news- 
paper were read. Here annually came the vil- 
lage shoemaker, with bench and tools, and 
spent many a busy day cutting and making up 
— from leather prepared at the village tannery, 
or bought in great sheets at one of the larger 
towns — the various sizes of boots and shoes 
which the family required. How many useful 
industries were carried on in that dear old 
room, and what good times we had there in 
spite of all the hard work! Never were any 
bowls of hot bread and milk so delicious as 
those which, night and morning, satisfied our 
childish hunger, and we never grumbled that 
our elders were allowed more varied fare. 
How attractive was the long dinner table when 
we rushed in with keen appetites from school 
or work, and how satisfying was the hearty 
meal of beef or mutton or pork, with potatoes 



32 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

and beans or other vegetables, and generous 
slices of brown bread, and pumpkin or apple 
pie. How toothsome the relish of apple sauce, 
rich and spicy, made by the barrel every au- 
tumn and set away up stairs to freeze and keep 
all the year round. How comforting the bright 
glow of the blazing logs in the great fire-place 
in the long winter evenings, when the wind 
howled without and the snow piled in great 
drifts against door and window. Sometimes 
we had no other light, for lamps and candles 
were costly. Our candles were made at home 
of unsavory tallow by the tedious process of 
"dipping." Later came lamps in which we 
burned the smoky whale oil. More agreeable 
than either were the candles which my mother 
made by mixing with the tallow the pale green, 
half-transparent wax of the bayberry, and 
which gave out a pleasant, spicy odor. When 
candles were burned the frequent and regular 
"snuffing" of the same was a necessary atten- 
tion, and the "snuffers and tray" were as indis- 
pensable as candlesticks themselves. I remem- 
ber that at our school-house conference meet- 
ings on Sabbath evenings it was always one 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 33 

man's special and particular business to snuff 
the candles. 

Out of our kitchen opened the "scullery" 
and out of that the "buttery." Here were ap- 
pliances for making the butter and cheese 
from the milk of our two cows, which my 
mother sold in the village. On the ground 
floor were also two bedrooms and a best room 
or parlor. The last was sacred to "company." 
It was the only room which boasted a carpet. 
Here was a fire-place of finer finish than that 
in the kitchen, with brass andirons and furni- 
ture, and brass candlesticks on the shelf. Here 
was my mother's best bureau, the best table, 
and what we always called the "best chairs" — 
only flag-bottomed but better made and finer 
than the others in the house. I remember 
that the bed in the spare bed-room had linen 
sheets and "pillow-biers," home-made, indeed, 
but choice, smooth and white. The other beds 
were supplied with cotton sheets for summer 
and flannel for winter. Our own flocks of geese 
gave us the filling for our plump feather beds, 
bolsters and pillows, and of their quills we 
made our own pens. Every schoolmaster must 



34 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

of necessity be a good pen-maker, for a part of 
his daily work was the making of the pens for 
his pupils, and his "pen-knife" must never be 
missing. 

To rear a family upon a HoUis farm was a 
work of infinite toil and pains. With all the 
economy and industry of the time it could 
hardly be done without some other source of 
income than the soil. Nearly every farm had 
its cooper shop. Barrels and kegs were ready 
cash in Boston; so the long, dark mornings and 
evenings of the long northern winter found the 
farmer busy in his shop, working by the light 
of his blazing shavings. Many a stormy day, 
when work outside was impossible, was passed 
there also, and the proceeds of the unremitting 
labor went for family necessities and comforts; 
for books and school and college bills, which 
could not else have been met. 

From the earliest settlement of the town 
there was an enthusiasm for education. It is 
said that during the first hundred years of its 
existence, no other town of its size could boast 
so many college graduates. In all the profes- 
sions educated HoUis men were to be found 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 35 

filling high positions with honor. Forty of 
them entered the most honorable calling of the 
ministry, during that first hundred years. 

How little is known at the present day of 
such close economy as was the common prac- 
tice in HoUis in my boyhood! How plain and 
simple was our life; yet how healthy and happy 
it was. The one luxury which HoUis parents 
craved was education for their children. For 
that they toiled and saved with heroic self- 
denial. Often the work and study of a whole 
evening went on by the light of pine knots, 
blazing in the great kitchen fire-place, thus 
saving the cost of even a poor tallow candle. 

Many sorts of work were then done at home 
which have since been given over to the shop 
and the factory. There was plenty of occupa- 
tion even for the smaller children, and the great 
variety of labor kept us always interested and 
content. Besides the regular work upon the 
farm there were many things for us boys to do. 
The providing of fuel for the long winters took 
many busy days. We made our own brooms, 
but there was no broom-corn; the coarser 
brooms were of the tough twigs of the hem- 



36 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

lock, and the finer of the stripped up fibers of 
smooth birch wood. There were the sheep to 
wash and to shear, the grain to thrash and 
carry to mill. We all worked, but for the house- 
mother there seemed to be never any rest. As 
I look back it is astonishing to me to recall 
how much the good mothers of that time were 
able to accomplish for their large families. 
There was not a cooking stove in town. All 
the cooking was done over the open fire or in 
the. great brick oven; but what wonderfully 
good cooking it was! Our clothing grew in 
our little flax field and upon the backs of the 
sheep which picked their scanty living among 
the rocks of the upland pastures. The wool 
was clipped and picked and oiled at home. It 
was then sent to the carding machine, but the 
soft, white rolls were brought back to be spun 
by the mother and girls upon the buzzing wheel. 
Then it was woven in the great looms found in 
almost every home. For the dyeing and dress- 
ing and pressing the cloth went to the mill, 
but came back once more to the home to be 
made into garments large and small for the 
boys and girls. I can never forget those hard, 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 37 

busy days for my mother. There were eleven 
of us children. I remember how the tailoress 
would come and cut such piles and piles of 
garments, and then mother would sew and sew, 
day after day, and at night long after the chil- 
dren were asleep. She gave her life for us. I 
did not understand it then as I do now. She 
had early taken to herself the Abrahamic cove- 
nant, and her faith never failed. Sometimes 
when very weary with her labors, and while 
the shining needle flew swiftly, I would hear 
her sing softly to herself, "My soul, be on thy 
guard." My mother's life and history were 
those of many of the good mothers of Hollis. 
What the wise man said long ago of the virtu- 
ous woman, might have been truly said of any 
one of them, "She seeketh wool and flax, and 
worketh willingly with her hands. She riseth 
also while it is yet night and giveth meat to 
her household. She looketh well to the ways 
of her household, and eateth not the bread of 
idleness. Her children rise up and call her 
blessed; her husband also and he praiseth her. 
Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou 
excellest them all." 



38 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 



IV. 



Those who have for many years wandered 
from the home of their childhood, will on their 
return wish to visit first the spot where father 
and mother lived, next the meeting-house with 
all its sacred associations, then the school-house 
with its varied remembrances. 

My HoUis home was in Beaver Brook school 
district. At five years of age I began my edu- 
cation in the modest school building some thir- 
ty or forty rods west of the bridge, on a little 
sandy plain well surrounded by hills and the 
Ratmatat Mountain. 

I remember the house well as I first saw it; 
the outside was very plain; the entrance door 
was in the south-west corner, a large fire-place 
in the north-west corner. There were rows of 
seats running the length of the south side for 
the boys, and other seats running the length of 
the east side for the girls; these seats were 
graded in height to accommodate children 
from the little tot to the largest scholar. 



HOLLIS SEVEINTY YEARS AGO. 39 

Beaver Brook school district then contained 
about twelve or thirteen families, with scarcely 
a home destitute of children. People in those 
days believed in children, and most tables were 
surrounded by little olive plants. 

I have been asked since I became an old man, 
if I could remember all the families in the dis- 
trict at that time. My answer is, yes, and I 
can name nearly all the scholars. 

At the east end, from the home of Isaac Far- 
ley, there were eight scholars — Amos, Sarah, 
Mary, Alonzo, Adolphus, Henry, and Clarissa 
Farley, and Mary Ann Brooks. 

A little west and up the lane lived Abner B. 
Little, where were thirteen children. Two died 
early, while eleven graduated from the school 
— Mary, Catherine, Elizabeth, William, Caleb, 
Henry G., Ruth, Laura Ann, Caroline, Augus- 
tus and Sarah Francis. Of these eleven, eight 
are now ( 1891 ) living; their united ages amount 
to six hundred and three years, an average of 
over seventy-five years. 

John Woods, then living with his mother, 
Mrs. Stevens, came to this school. In the 
same house were Uriah and Harriet Reed, 



40 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

children of Uriah Reed, who was drowned in 
Wright's Pond. Later W. G. Brown came to 
the school from that home. 

At the top of Proctor Hill lived Aaron Proc- 
tor with his interesting flock of, I should say, 
six or seven children. Three were my school- 
mates, Moses, Aaron, and a sister. This fam- 
ily moved to Ohio in 1821 or '22. 

From the home of Captain Thomas Proctor, 
three — James, Luther, and, I think, a sister, 
were in school at this time. Thomas, John, 
Susan and Mary attended later. Mrs. Proctor 
was a superior woman, beautiful in person and 
character, and she imparted to her children of 
her own brightness and native ability. 

At Eleazer Pierce's we find two boys, one 
called "Nat." 

At Richard Clough's, Cyrus was the only 
child. 

At Nathaniel Proctor's were Olive, Indiana, 
Moses, Ira, and Maria. 

Nathaniel Pierce lived where Mr. Austin late- 
ly resided. 

Down the lane north, we find Mr. Benjamin 
Abbott and his son Abial. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 4 1 

Next was Benjamin Austin. I have heard it 
said that his children numbered well into the 
teens. Those attending school were Benja- 
min, Stephen, Luther, Jefferson, Daniel, Chris- 
topher, Page, Noah, Mary, and Sally Rideout. 

On the wood road and near Rocky Pond, we 
find Gaius Wright's home. A son, Gaius, Jr., 
and a daughter were in school. 

At Nathan Colburn's were four scholars — 
Erie, Lydia, Moses, and Lucinda. — Deacon E. 
J. was not in trousers yet. 

Last, down under the hill, we find Stephen 
Lund, with children named Rachel, Alice, So- 
phronia, Irene, Martha, Danforth, and Noah- 
diah. 

A friend now living in Massachusetts re- 
minds me of several more children in our dis- 
trict, making in all seventy or more where there 
are now but three. 

We had eight weeks' school in the winter, 
taught by the "Master," at twelve dollars per 
month; and twelve in the summer, taught by 
the ''Schoolma'am," at one dollar and a quar- 
ter a week, the teacher always "boarding 
round." 



42 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

We had many good teachers who afterwards 
became prominent men and women. I recall 
among these Frederick Worcester and an older 
brother, Caroline Holden, and Sarah Thayer, 
the latter of whom married the Hon. George S. 
Boutwell, w^ho was later Governor of Massa- 
chusetts, a member of Congress, and Secretary 
of the Treasury under Grant. As I remember 
the teachers, all were good with one exception. 
This was a lady from another town, who was 
short and not remarkable for beauty. If she 
had any ability as a teacher, neither parents 
nor scholars appreciated it; if she accomplish- 
ed any good, it must have been in the aid she 
gave in clearing the brush patch near by. We 
boys seldom failed, forenoon and afternoon, to 
know just how the brush felt when well applied. 
On giving out a lesson she used no judgment, 
and would add, *T will whip you if you don't 
get it!" We usually got it — the whipping. The 
general rule that a whipping at school must be 
followed by a whipping at home, made it pretty 
hard on some of us. I believe "Chris." Austin 
and I used to get the most frequent whippings. 
The brook near the school-house was a con- 



MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 43 

stant delight, and we barefoot children took to 
it as naturally as a duck to water. The edict 
went forth from this teacher that should any 
child get his clothes wet while wading in the 
brook, he should be whipped, notwithstanding 
the whole summer wearing-gear of a boy was 
not worth forty cents, and I never could under- 
stand what difference it made to her whether 
our clothes were wet or not. Beautiful pond 
lilies grew a little north of the bridge, in the 
meadow now owned by Mrs. John Perkins. 
One day I worked hard at noon to gather some 
of these lilies for my mother. My trousers 
were rolled clear to my body to keep them dry; 
I had gathered more than forty of the fragrant 
flowers, and was about to leave, but tempted by 
one larger than the rest, I waded out just a lit- 
tle further, when suddenly down went one foot 
into a hole, wetting the whole roll. What could 
I do? Could I buy her off? I'll try! I car- 
ried all the flowers designed for my mother to 
this woman. She took them, gave them one 
sniff, saw my wet trousers, and then whipped 
me until she wakened within me a little demon 
of whose existence I had before been ignorant. 



44 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

I realized the injustice then, even as now. 
When my own little ones have been on my 
knee and begged for a story, I have told them 
this one. They have all cried over it, and one 
of my little grandchildren, Thomas Stoddard 
Holyoke, pityingly asked, 'Ts your back well 
yet, grandpa?" 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 45 



V. 



Earnest and industrious as was our life, it was 
not without its sports and pleasures. Each 
circling year brought its holidays. Our Inde- 
pendence Day lacked, no doubt, the ceaseless 
pop of the fire-cracker and the hiss of the rock- 
et, but the effervescence of patriotism was no 
less genuine than now, and possibly children 
had then a clearer understanding of the mean- 
ing of the day, being nearer to the original 
"Fourth of July." I wonder how many besides 
myself remember a certain Fourth when we 
had a variation from the usual program in a 
representation of Indian life. Some forty of 
the best young men furnished the entertain- 
ment. Very early in the morning, the Indian 
war-hoop was heard in the streets, and down 
through the midst of the town streamed a wild 
and savage procession of red men in war paint 
and feathers and such other aboriginal gar- 
ments as sufficed to make the staid citizens 



46 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

wonder whether a remnant of the extinct Pe- 
quots had not returned from their happy hunt- 
ing-grounds to avenge their wrongs upon these 
descendants of the Puritans. Until noon, the 
well-simulated savages ranged through the vil- 
lage, over the hills and through the woods. 
There seemed to be a thousand of them. Their 
wild cries startled you from every side. Turn 
where you would, their tomahawks flashed be- 
fore you. But by twelve o'clock they all were 
willing to suspend the sport for an hour, and 
they gathered for dinner in my father's barn, 
where a whole lamb had been roasted for them. 
Dinner over, the Indian Chief,— who was the 
late Hon. John N. Worcester, and well he act- 
ed his part— called the roll of his warriors, giv- 
ing to each his Indian name, some of which 
are in my memory yet. I can hear him rattle 
them glibly off— "Eane, Teane, Lathery, Toth- 
ery. Feathery, Dick, Eanedick, Teandick," etc., 
etc. Again the tribe descended upon the vil- 
lage and wood. They must have run forty miles 
that day, for the fun lasted till night. I have 
seen the Sioux and many other Indian tribes in 
the West, and I am prepared to say that those 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 47 

HoUis boys gave us a very fair presentation of 
Indian character and manners. 

Election day, I remember mainly for that 
glazed election cake, tempting and toothsome, 
which we got on no other day, and of which 
we never got enough. 

Thanksgiving day marked the beginning of 
the long winter, when the keen zest for winter 
sports was fresh upon us, and when cellar and 
store-room were filled with the fruits of our 
summer toil. All the riches of this fertile 
west could hardly spread a more bounteous or 
more delicious Thanksgiving dinner than those 
which we enjoyed. Neither turkey nor pud- 
ding nor mince pie was wanting, and there was 
no lack of apples and nuts and cider for the 
evening. In the evening, too, there was always 
a merry party at our own house or elsewhere; 
sometimes a romping company of children 
made the house ring with the noise of their 
games and laughter; sometimes the fun was 
shared by the older members of the families 
represented. 

But the greatest days of the year, eagerly 
anticipated by all the boys — and I am inclined 



48 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

to think by the men, too, for they were all on 
hand — were Training days. 

I never knew much of the military laws of 
New Hampshire, but in my childhood they cer- 
tainly required all able-bodied men between, 
perhaps, the ages of eighteen and forty-five 
years, to go through certain military exercises 
every fall and spring. This was called train- 
ing, and the two annual training days were 
times of absorbing interest. Each soldier must 
be equipped with gun, cartridge box, knapsack 
and canteen. The companies elected their own 
officers, and R. E. Tenney, Jeremiah Dow and 
William Emerson were among the captains 
whom I remember. With what stern and sol- 
dier-like precision did the officers put their men 
through the prescribed evolutions. How they 
emulated the glory of the King of France, who, 
"with twenty thousand men marched up the 
hill," and then, "with twenty thousand men 
marched down the hill, and ne'er went up 
again." What daring charges one company 
made upon another in those magnificent mock 
battles! How war-like, how valorous we boys 
felt as we looked on! There was one indepen- 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 49 

dent military company, finely uniformed and 
officered, in which Hollis people took especial 
pride. I remember just how the large letters, 
"H. S. G.", looked on their knapsacks. They 
were the "Hollis Stark Grenadiers," named in 
honor of glorious General Stark of revolution- 
ary fame, a son of New Hampshire of whom 
she has not yet ceased to be proud. 

One small artillery company of boys about 
twelve years old, was organized, in which I had 
the honor to be a private; Ed. Messer was our 
captain. We had a good brass cannon and 
were fairly well uniformed. We drilled with 
the others, and the three or four companies 
covered the common and stretched well up on 
High Street besides. 

The regular companies had their own halls 
well supplied with liquors, to which their mem- 
bers repaired several times a day to quench 
their thirst. Our little artillery company had 
made no such provision. But I recall one oc- 
casion when we had attracted some notice for 
our drill, and had received a good deal of 
praise, whether deserved or not. When the 
other companies adjourned for drink, we were 



50 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

invited to a chamber at Mr. Gould's, well-fur- 
nished with liquors by some of the best men in 
the town. Among them were "Squire" Pool, 
R. E. Tenney and Col. William Emerson. 

One of our military companies was known 
as the "Old String Bean Company," named, 
probably, from the grotesqne fashion in which 
the members arrayed themselves on training 
days. Col. Wm. Emerson was a member of 
this company, and from its ranks, he had risen 
by steady promotion for superior merit, until 
he had reached that pinnacle of glory and 
honor, the post of Colonel in the State Militia, 
and had become the great military man of 
Hollis. He was not a man of commanding 
stature. In fact he was rather short, but you 
never would have guessed it on training day. 
What a magnificent figure he made in his fine 
uniform, his chest well padded, his erect form 
sitting well upon his spirited steed! He was 
proud of his position; Hollis people were very 
proud of him, and Robin, the beautiful sorrel 
horse he rode, seemed proudest of them all. 

Military maneuvers were not the only amuse- 
ment of training days. There were various 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 5 I 

sports participated in by those not in battle 
array, wrestling being, perhaps, the principal 
one. There were peddlers of various enticing 
wares, auctioning off their goods, and there 
was always the baker's cart dispensing delicious 
squares of golden-brown gingerbread. 

Besides the local, village gatherings for mili- 
tary drill, there were larger assemblies of the 
militia, where the various companies from the 
whole county came together and vied with each 
other in perfection of equipment and precision 
of movement. These occasions were called 
Muster days, and for our county the mustering 
took place in Nashua or some other large town. 

The apple parings and the corn-huskings 
which every autumn gave opportunity for com- 
bining work and play in merry and industrious 
fashion, were events to be remembered. I re- 
call nothing among all the quaint and curious 
customs of those days more picturesque than 
the husking-bees in the big barns, where lively 
groups of men and maidens gathered on dark 
November evenings by the light of many glim- 
mering lanterns, and made jolly fun of the task 
of stripping the wrappings of dusky gold from 



52 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

the harvested maize. When the work was done 
and the glowing heaps of amber and crimson 
ears gave evidence that sport had not outvied 
labor, there was always the hearty late supper 
in the kitchen before the huskers scattered to 
their homes. 

It would be a grim sort of humor which should 
count the New England Fast Day among holi- 
days and amusements; but I mention it here 
as one of the anniversaries which in its regular 
recurrence helped in its characteristic way to 
vary the simple round of our quiet lives. It 
came in the spring — always in April, I believe 
— and all citizens were expected to mortify the 
flesh by strict abstinence, and to assemble in 
the meeting-house, that they might humble 
themselves before Almighty God and seek by 
sincere penitence and true heartiness of wor- 
ship to appease or forestall His just and right- 
eous wrath. To my childish recollection fast 
days were days of hungry weariness and gloom. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 53 



VI 



I have known much of life in many towns in 
different states, and I can say, upon the whole, 
that in none have I ever known more morality, 
good order, and genuine Christian uprightness, 
than were to be found in the Hollis of seventy 
years ago. This high tone in the community 
I believe to have been due mainly to the 
noble influence of good Pastor Emerson and 
his successor, Mr. Smith, seconded as they 
were in all their efforts by the multitude of 
worthy citizens who loyally stood by them, al- 
ways for the right. And yet there were, even 
in Hollis, men, women and children upon whom 
angels' wings had not begun to sprout. There 
were those who habitually broke nearly all the 
commands written by God's own finger upon 
the tables of stone; those who gave loose rein 
to that little unruly member which is set on fire 
of hell, and too often stirred up enmity and 
strife; and a few only in whom floods of "fire- 
water" had almost quenched the human, and 



54 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

transformed them into devils. There was even 
now and then one of honorable position and 
respectable calling who dishonored both, and 
brought reproach upon himself, his church, 
and his town. If there is a dark side to my 
memories of early life, as a faithful chroni- 
cler, I should not leave it wholly out. 

For an incident in illustration, I will tell a 
story of a certain man of the town who had 
been appointed to the responsible post of tith- 
ing-man and who sometimes made shoes. As 
a parish officer his duties required him to pre- 
serve order during divine service and to enforce 
the proper observance of the Sabbath in ac- 
cordance with the laws of the state. Travel- 
ling on Sunday was forbidden by law, and tith- 
ing-men were required to arrest any person 
found violating that law. Now our shoemaker, 
while bound by his official character to see to 
it that others observed the holy day, seemed 
to regard himself as exempt from the require- 
ments of God's fourth and longest command- 
ment. At all events, he was accustomed to 
spend what spare time remained on Sunday 
after the performance of his religious duties, 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 55 

in working at his bench in the shoe shop. 
Chancing to glance from his window while 
thus employed one sacred Sabbath afternoon, 
his eye fell upon a wicked sinner breaking the 
holy law of God and man by Sunday travelling. 
A holy horror stirred within him; his lap-stone 
tell to the floor and forth he rushed, in shirt- 
sleeves and leather apron, to seize the offender. 
But finding the man to be a vender of lasts, the 
business spirit returned so powerfully upon 
him that he speedily struck a bargain for a 
quantity of the wares and bade the Sabbath- 
breaker pass on. 

In the days of which I write, there were few 
who questioned the propriety of a moderate 
use of intoxicating drinks. By most people 
they were regarded as a necessity, and only ex- 
cessive indulgence was condemned. Liquors 
invariably appeared on all special occasions of 
a social nature or of unusual effort. What New 
Hampshire boy can ever forget the terrible 
snow-storms which in places filled the roads 
full to the top of the fences, and, but for the 
hills and forests to break the force of the wind, 
would have equalled a prairie blizzard. When 



56 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

the storm ceased there was the task of "break- 
ing out" the roads, for there was no getting to 
town till that was done. All the men and boys 
turned out with oxen, and steers and sleds. 
The men shoveled, and the animals ploughed 
through the many drifts, dragging the sleds 
loaded with boys. It was hard work, but when 
town was reached, the toilers were comforted 
by the generous glasses of free rum and big 
plates of crackers which the store-keepers pass- 
ed out. When the road-breakers reached the 
home of 'Squire Farley, senior, he was wont to 
furnish "toddy" for the crowd, thus making 
good his part in the work he was too old to 
share. 

An old gentleman who is my neighbor now, 
tells me that his pastor in his New Hampshire 
home, at Winchester, used to go directly from 
his pulpit to the tavern for the refreshment of 
his glass of toddy, and took no shame to him- 
self therefor. 

The older people in Hollis will remember 
the Reverend John Todd, who preached in 
Groton, in 1826 and 1827. He says in his auto- 
biography that he has seen liquors mixed at 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 57 

funerals on the coffin itself. Liquors were used 
at funerals in Hollis, to some extent at least. 
On the death of a little child in a leading fam- 
ily of the town, I was one of the four boys, 
about ten years old, who acted as bearers, We 
went early as we had been told to do, and were 
taken to a chamber where several kinds of 
liquors were provided for us. We all drank, 
but Edmund Messer said, ''Drink light, boys, 
for you know we arc to be bearers." In an- 
other room were various drinks for the 
mourners. 

I listened on one training day to Coolidge 
Wheat and other musicians while they discussed, 
as they drank, the question as to what kind 
of liquor was best to blow their wind instru- 
ments on. One could blow best on West India 
rum; another on brandy; and still another, who 
was already pretty "full," could blow best on 
gin. I gave careful heed to their experience, 
for, I thought, I may possibly be one of this 
brass band yet. The man who placed his de- 
pendence on gin seemed to me almost as 
mighty a blower as a certain Dutchman I have 
heard of out west, who was asked if he could 



S8 MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

blow the great brass horn of many twists and 
curves. "Ah!" he said, swelling with pride, 
"If you gifs me plenty viskey, and I gets all 
my vint apout me, I blow dat horn right oot 
straight de fust time I try." 

It was not uncommon on training days and 
other public occasions, to see even some of our 
good men "a little balmy," rather "groggy," 
"over the bay," or "three sheets to the wind," 
as the common phrases were. I went one af- 
ternoon with my father to the house of one of 
our best townsmen and church members. I 
was accustomed to hear the good man give 
wise and pious talks in prayer-meetings, but 
now he appeared very strange, his tongue was 
thick, his talk was foolish. He wanted to bet 
that he could lift a cask of lime that weighed 
three or four hundred pounds. The more he 
was urged not to try it, the more he insisted 
that he would bet he could lift the cask. I did 
not think of its being possible for so good a 
man to be tipsy; it was all a mystery to me. 
But when I went home and told my mother 
about it, I saw my father smile, and mother 
said, "He has been drinking some of that aw- 
ful stuff." 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 59 

The temperance reformation which rolled 
over the land a few years later, reached Hollis, 
and this same good man was brought before 
the church for drinking to excess. He met the 
charge like a man and a Christian. "Breth- 
ren," he said, "why do you bring this charge 
against me now? I drink no more now than 
for thirty years past, and you have never com- 
plained before." But with the rising tide of 
temperance principle, and the spreading light 
of the new dawn which had risen on the world, 
the good brother came to see that his drinking 
was an offense and a stumbling-block. He 
would not stand in the way of others, and in 
the spirit of Paul, he said, "If rum maketh my 
brother to offend, I will drink no more while 
the world stands." He lived for twenty years 
or more after that, and I never knew of his 
drinking again, but tor months I remember 
that he looked very white when he came to 
church, and I doubt not it was a hard battle 
with the evil habit. 

Hollis became comparatively a temperance 
town, but there were a few, as in all places, 
who would drink and did drink, though it rob- 



60 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

bed wife and children of food and clothing. 
Some good citizens refused to sign the temper- 
ance pledge. They "would not sign away their 
liberty." "They could drink or let it alone." 
Some of these lived to see that they had made 
a mistake, for in more than one case the pa- 
rent's course told disastrously upon his chil- 
dren. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 6l 



VII 



Guided by memory, faithful friend, it delights 
me still to take, in fancy, long strolls about the 
Hollis streets and lanes, listening to what she 
has to tell of the days long past, and adding to 
her garrulous tales of persons and families who 
made the village life of three-fourths of a cen- 
tury ago, such bits of information as have come 
to me in later years concerning their after 
achievements and experiences, and rejoicing 
in the honors and distinctions which have come 
to the children of my beloved native town and 
their descendants. Will you come with me for 
such a walk? 

A little south of the parsonage, in a pleasant 
cottage surrounded by neatly kept grounds, 
lived Nathan Thayer with his interesting fam- 
ily, consisting of a wife, five daughters and a 
son. His occupation, as I have already said, 
was that of a painter, but he was also a success- 
ful teacher. He was a prominent citizen, an 
industrious and worthy man, following his busi- 



62 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

ness faithfully until a short time before his 
death. Thirty winters, his grand-daughter tells 
us, were passed in the schoolroom. I remem- 
ber visiting his schools at several different 
times. They were not remarkable for the good 
order kept. He seemed to pay little attention 
to that; but, what was of more importance, he 
was able to create an enthusiasm for learning 
which I have never seen equalled. There was 
a charm about his teaching that made even a 
dry problem in mathematics attractive. He 
demonstrated, as many another good teacher 
has done, that a keen thirst for knowledge is a 
very good substitute for hard and fast rules of 
order. Mr. Thayer represented Hollis in the 
New Hampshire legislature, and was for many 
years on the Examining Board as one of the 
school committee. He died at the age of 49 
years, and it was marvelous to learn that he 
had from his daily labors accumulated a fort- 
une of $18,000, besides providing for his large 
family. His wife died soon after himself, and 
his children left Hollis; the house was burned 
a few years later, and nothing now remains of 
the pleasant home of Nathan Thayer. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 63 

On the opposite side of the street lived Jo- 
siah Conant, a cabinet-maker, who confined 
himself closely to his shop during his life. 
Here, too, was a family of six or seven chil- 
dren. Sarah, who was among the youngest, 
has died within the past year. Mrs. Conant 
was one of the good Hollis mothers of whom I 
have spoken. The parents had much reason 
for happiness in the estimable family which 
grew up around them. Both were gath- 
ered home long ago. Mr. Conant's business 
brought him into close relations with the joys 
and sorrows of the village. Happy young 
couples, planning for their new house-keeping, 
called upon him for their tables and chairs and 
other home comforts; and he furnished, also, 
the cofifins in which the still forms of loved 
ones were laid away for the last sleep. 

Mrs. Smith, whose home was a little farther 
north, was a widow when I first knew her. She 
had several daughters and only one son, Chris- 
topher, who was near my own age, and who 
has always remained in Hollis. 

Not far to the south was the Cutter home. 
Deacon Dr. Benoni Cutter died before my re- 



64 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

membrance, leaving a wife, five sons and a 
daughter. A devotedly pious woman and a 
faithful mother, Mrs. Cutter raised her family 
to honorable manhood and womanhood. She 
gave them all a good common-school educa- 
tion, and the boys became energetic and enter- 
prising men, engaging early in business for 
themselves. The daughter, when she married, 
went to a distant home. Mrs. Cutter died in 
1833, after having suffered long and sorely from 
nervous prostration. A few years later, her 
son, John H. Cutter, returned to the old home- 
stead. He greatly enlarged and beautified the 
house and added new buildings, bringing the 
old place to such a pitch of magnificence as to 
astonish the staid old residents. Others caught 
his spirit and emulated his enterprising ex- 
ample, which proved a great advantage to 
HoUis. He was an ambitious man with some 
political aspirations, and was honored with a 
seat in the Legislature. Dr. Day once said to 
me, "If John H. Cutter had not failed in health 
he would, probably, have been governor of 
New Hampshire." His handsome residence 
has made me many times a pleasant home dur- 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 65 

ing my visits to my native town. He died in 
middle life, his wife following him many years 
later. Two of his children remain in Hollis, 
but the old home has passed out of the family. 

Just across the road, at the home of Mr. 
Paull, has just passed away one who was, prob- 
ably, "in her teens" seventy years ago — the 
aged and highly esteemed Mrs. Clarissa Far- 
ley Eaton, the last representative, I think, of 
the large and strong family of "Squire" Farley, 
senior. 

Should I call at the next house and describe 
the home as it used to be, I should tell of find- 
ing Captain Page Farley, with his honored 
mother at the head of the household. The 
wife had passed away from her husband's side 
before my remembrance. I should speak of 
the little daughter a few years old, so frail and 
delicate that the wise mothers of the neighbor- 
hood were wont to shake their heads and whis- 
per that the dear child would never live to 
grow up. But she did live to a ripe age. 
When she was ten years old she had a merry 
Thanksgiving party, and I had the happiness 
of being one of her guests. Her father's ten- 



66 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

der affection for the fragile child was manifest- 
ed in his great care for her, and in providing 
everything that love could suggest for her ad- 
vantage. The Captain, as I have said, was a 
tanner by trade. He prospered by close atten- 
tion to business, and a faithful exemplification 
of the principle that "honesty is the best pol- 
icy." His strict justice was so well known that 
it was often said, when he tanned sheep-skins 
"at halves," that the smallest child might be 
sent to receive the owner's share. I remember 
that the first cooking-stove was introduced into 
HoUis by him. He died in middle life, but his 
feeble daughter was near seventy years of age 
before she followed him. She made wise dis- 
position of the property left her by her father 
and its accumulations. All who look upon the 
fine high school building are reminded of the 
benevolence and public spirit of Miss Mary 
Sherwin Farley. 

A few steps further southward will bring us 
to the home of Dr. William Hale. His was an 
energetic, busy life, driving day after day over 
the rough roads about Hollis and off to Brook- 
line, on his missions of mercy. His gentle, 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 6/ 

winning ways endeared him to the families 
which he served, and mothers willingly entrust- 
ed their tender little ones to his hands. To 
feed and clothe his large family from the small 
fees collected by country physicians at that 
time, required the faithful and heroic efforts of 
the brave man he was. He lived lo a great age 
— I think over ninety years. None of his chil- 
dren remain in Hollis. One grandson, William 
E. Hale, resides in Oakland, California. He is 
a successful and popular business man, and at 
present (1891), sheriff of the county. 

I come next to the dwelling of Mr. Sewall 
Butterfield, He, too, had many children to 
provide for from his daily earnings. So he 
sewed and hammered away at his shoe-bench, 
day after day and year after year, always keep- 
ing up good courage. If I remember rightly, 
his boys began early to help bear the family 
burdens, or at least to strike out for themselves, 
and as the years went by they all sought homes 
elsewhere. The parents long ago passed over 
the river, and the little home went into other 
hands. 



6S HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 



VIII. 

Seventy years ago Major Luther Hubbard 
occupied and owned a cottage a little to the 
south of Butterfield hill. A worthy and indus- 
trious man, he followed through life the trade 
of stone cutting. Wherever there was stone 
work to be done, there was he with hammer 
and chisel. He is associated in my memory 
with those dark and dismal abodes of the dead 
which we called "The Tombs," for I remember 
his building them, not far south of his own 
house. It wasa melancholy row of stone vaults, 
full of terror and mystery to my boyish mind. 
I used to hear them sing in church and confer- 
ence meetings, in dreary, wailing minor tones, 

"Hark, from the tombs a doleful sound, 
Mine ears attend the cry; 

Ye living men, come view the ground, 
Where you must shortly lie." 
It was all "Greek" to me, except that some very 
dreadful associations clung around those 
gloomy "tombs" which made me skim by them 
on flying feet, if ever I had to pass them in the 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 6g 

dusk, trying hard to close my ears against the 
"doleful sound" which I expected to hear, and 
taking very great care not to "view the ground" 
any more than was necessary, as I sped away. 
But good Mr. Hubbard was not to blame for 
my childish terrors. There was nothing dole- 
ful about him, and I have very pleasant recol- 
lections of his family. There were four or five 
children, all older than myself. Luther Pres- 
cott Hubbard is the one I knew best. At the 
time I speak of, he was a lad of thirteen years, 
and the fire that had been burning in HoUisfor 
seventy-five years had already begun to warm 
his youthful mind, and kindle aspirations for 
an education. He made the most of the op- 
portunities within his reach, studying hard at 
home and at Pinkerton academy. In 1824, we 
find him at Nashua, hammer in hand, helping 
to erect the first cotton factory in that town. 
Studies in architecture were pursued in Boston, 
and there the young man superintended the 
fitting of the granite for the Tremont House. 
His skilled hand and trained eye also contrib- 
uted to the building of Bunker Hill monument, 
and he is pleased to remember that while at 



70 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

work in Quincy he saw President John Adams 
at his ancestral home. 

The great metropolis has always drawn its 
best life and talent from the country, and in 
1827 young Hubbard realized a long-cherished 
desire to make his home in New York. The 
work of his hand may yet be seen in that city 
upon some of the buildings in Wall, Pearl and 
adjacent streets. But he was not to give his 
life to building. Sixty-one years ago, by the 
advice of his wise pastor, the Rev. Samuel H. 
Cox, D. D., he laid aside architecture to engage 
in works of active benevolence. During more 
than thirty years of missionary labor, he dis- 
tributed above a hundred thousand copies of 
the Scriptures, and, whenever possible, a kind 
and helpful word accompanied each volume. 
As an officer of the American Seaman's Friend 
Society, he has labored continuously for nearly 
sixty years, and is now financial agent of the 
society. He has also been for forty years the 
highly honored secretary of the New England 
Society of New York, whose annual banquets 
are famous for the brilliant and witty oratory 
which graces them, for their atter-dinner speak- 



t 





<::^U^cZ^t:^^^/>^c^^ 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 7I 

ers are always selected from the most gifted 
and illustrious men of the time. At these an- 
niversaries Mr. Hubbard's tall and stately fig- 
ure is always a noticeable feature, all the more 
so since he has taken on the snowy locks of the 
octogenarian. It was at one of the banquets 
of the New England Society that a humorous 
speaker brought out a burst of applause by 
claiming that they had among them a veritable 
relic of Puritanic times, for he was certain that 
their venerable secretary came over in the 
Mayflower. Mr. Hubbard is an interesting 
writer, a leaflet which he wrote many years 
ago upon the use of tobacco being especially 
valuable. It is entitled "How a Smoker got a 
Home," and has been widely circulated. It is 
safe to say that it has had millions of readers. 
Translated into Spanish, it has been extensively 
read in Mexico. Call upon Mr. Hubbard now, 
at Greenwich, Conn., and you will find him 
with his good Hollis wife, Mary Tenney Hub- 
bard, in his beautiful Christian home. Four of 
their eight children are still living. 

Luther Prescott Hubbard, Jr., born in New 
York City, served for four years in the Federal 



72 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

army during the Civil War; he was engaged in 
the first battle of Bull Run and in that of Wil- 
liamsburg. Though twice hit with ball and 
shell, he escaped with unimpaired vigor and 
energy. Coming west a few years after the 
close of the war "to stay," as he said, he spent 
some time in business in Grinnell, Iowa, but 
soon found his way to Minneapolis, Minnesota, 
where he commenced his business career as a 
clerk for C. A. Pillsbury & Co., owners of the 
largest flouring mills in the world. Mr. Hub- 
bard became cashier for their immense business. 
Whole trains of cars stand delivering wheat at 
these mills, while other trains are starting for 
New York, loaded with thousands of barrels of 
flour from the same establishment. To manage 
the finances of the large business requires a 
man of no common business talent, to say 
nothing of the unimpeachable integrity de- 
manded. Mr. Hubbard has held the place for 
sixteen years. I do not know what his salary 
is. He says, "They give me more than I could 
ask." I have spent a day with him at his 
pleasant summer home on Lake Minnetonka, 
and have sat with him at his desk in his office 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 73 

and seen him sign single drafts for the firm as 
large as $25,000. All their drafts are signed 
by him. A few years ago while Mr. Hubbard 
was away on a vacation visit to his father, Mr. 
C. A. Pillsbury, the head of the firm, ventured 
to send drafts to New York signed by himself. 
His name was unfamiliar to New York bankers, 
and he was obliged to telegraph to Mr. Hub- 
bard, at Greenwich, to go into the city and 
vouch for his millionaire chief. 

Frederick Augustus Hubbard had the good 
fortune to be born at the old Tenney home- 
stead in Hollis. After graduating from the 
Law School of the University of New York, he 
spent two years as a student of law in the ofiice 
of William M. Evarts. He resides in Green- 
wich, Conn., and is a member of the bar both 
in New York and Connecticut. 

The only daughter, Mary Tenney Hubbard, 
was also ushered into the world at the old 
home in Hollis. After having been graduated 
at Vassar College she returned to her home, 
and is now the only child remaining with her 
parents. 

William Norris Hubbard, of the Williams 



74 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

College class of 1883, after thorough profes- 
sional studies, established himself in New York 
City as a physician. In addition to his medi- 
cal practice he is one of the lecturers of the 
New York Polyclinic. 

Two sons, John Theodore, and Benjamin 
Farley Hubbard, were both called to the high- 
er service in the freshness of young manhood. 
John died at twenty-four, in Minneapolis, soon 
after entering upon a promising business ca- 
reer; Benjamin died at twenty-one, while look- 
ing forward to a life of usefulness as a minister 
of the gospel. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 75 



IX. 



Not far beyond Major Hubbard's is the house 
which is now the home of R.E. Tenney, second, 
son of Wm. N. Tenney, and his excellent wife, 
Sally Cutter Tenney, where I have been so hos- 
pitably entertained during several of my later 
visits to Hollis. It was my mother's ancestral 
home. The first of the Tenneys in America 
came from Rowley, England, in 1639, and set- 
tled in Rowley, Mass. The Puritan piety and 
devotion which led him to forsake home, and 
friends and comfort, and brave the perils of 
the wilderness, for the principle of religious 
freedom, long survived in his descendants. It 
is recorded that in the town of Bradford, Mass. 
there was a succession of deacons in the Tenney 
family a hundred years long, while at least 
twenty of the name became ministers of the 
gospel. The same religious fervor character- 
ized the family when it was transplanted to 
Hollis in 1737. In that year William Tenney 
established a home upon the spot where the 



'j6 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

Tenney homestead stands to-day, and from that 
day to this the farm has remained in the pos- 
session of his direct male descendants. In il- 
lustration of the earnest piety which was char- 
acteristic of his family, the following incident 
is on record. Pastor Emerson called to con- 
sole the widow after William Tenney's death. 
As he spoke of the virtues of the good man 
gone to his reward, she exclaimed with empha- 
sis, "Do talk to me of my ascended Lord, and 
not respecting my dead husband!" The sec- 
ond of the name in Hollis was Captain William 
Tenney, who served at Lexington and Cam- 
bridge, and in other engagements of the Rev- 
olutionary War. He was a man who gave val- 
uable aid in laying the foundations of society. 
His wife was Phoebe Jewett, and of their ten 
children seven lived to maturity. Mrs. Tenney 
was a very delicate woman — "a mere bundle of 
nerves," and in her latter years suffered great- 
ly from nervous imaginations. For years there 
were frequently times when she felt certain 
that death was near at hand. Her husband's 
calm strength, and wise and gentle manage- 
ment always soothed and controlled her excite- 



MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. ']'] 

ment, and, it is said, that he failed but once 
to yield to the wishes of the invalid. That 
was on a busy afternoon when he was at work 
in the hay-field south of the house. His wife 
sent for him in great haste, with the assurance 
that she was about Lo die. He heard the mes- 
sage without laying down his pitch-fork, and 
replied, quietly, "Ask her to please put it off 
till I get this hay in." 

Their eldest son. Rev, Caleb Jewett Tenney, 
D. D., took first rank and honors at his gradu- 
ation from Dartmouth College in the class of 
1801, of which Daniel Webster was a member. 
After serving for ten years as pastor of the 
Congregational Church at Newport, R. I., he 
removed to Connecticut and was settled over 
the church in Wethersfield, then the most im- 
portant in the state. So acceptable were his 
labors there that, when he lost his voice after 
twenty years of pastoral work, his church de- 
clined to accept his resignation, permitting him 
for six years to furnish a supply in the hope 
that his voice would be restored. He is re- 
membered as an able preacher, a model pastor, 
and as one especially gifted with wisdom and 



78 MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

skill in settling difficulties. A near neighbor 
of my own, the Rev. Timothy G. Brainerd, an 
aged minister who once resided in Dr. Tenney's 
family, has given me an illustration of this last 
trait. Walking one day with Dr. Tenney, they 
passed a fine residence and the doctor related 
an incident which occurred when the occupants 
were the young parents of one little child. The 
mother only was a professed Christian, and she 
wished the child baptized. The father had 
leanings toward the Baptist faith, and objected. 
The controversy grew sharp, and a coldness 
divided the hitherto happy couple. They 
agreed, however, to submit the question to 
their pastor, Dr. Tenney. "Ah!" he said, after 
listening patiently and kindly to both sides, 
"You have never been properly and thoroughly 
married, or you do not remember the solemn 
promises you have made to God. Stand up 
now, and take each other by the hand while I 
marry you once more." So deeply were they 
impressed by the solemn pledges of mutual 
love and forbearance required in the second 
marriage ceremony, and by the earnest prayer 
in which their pastor laid their difificulties be- 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. /Q 

fore the Lord, that there was never after any 
hint of trouble between them. Dr. Tenney's 
wife was the attractive and accomplished Ruth 
Channing, niece of the celebrated Dr. William 
Ellery Channing. 

Phoebe Jewett Tenney, the eldest daughter 
of Capt. Tenney, was the wife of Dr. Cutter, 
deacon for many years in the HoUis church. 
Nancy, my own mother, married Abner B. Little 
and removed with him to Illinois in 1836, and 
died there. 

William, the second son, was a graduate of 
Dartmouth, and became a lawyer in New Mar- 
ket, N. H. Sarah, who was next in age, mar- 
ried Mr. Boynton of Westford, Mass. Lucinda 
became the wife ot Deacon Kimball of Temple, 
N. H. 

When Captain William Tenney died in i8c6, 
his youngest son, Ralph Emerson Tenney, was 
a lad of sixteen years, and, as was customary 
in those days, the boy was placed in charge of 
a guardian and regularly "bound out" by him. 
The instrument which was drawn at the time 
(probably by Jesse Worcester, Esq.) has been 
preserved, and I am indebted to Miss H. M. 



80 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

Tenney of Greenwich, Conn., for a copy which 
lies before me. It seems to me of sufficient 
interest to justify my giving it in full: 

"An agreement or bargain between Ephraim 
Burge of Hollis, gentleman, and guardian for 
Ralph Tenney, a minor, on the one part, and 
the widow Phcebe Tenney, of said Hollis, on 
the other." 

The bargain is as follows: 

"Said Ralph is to live with his mother, the 
said widow Tenney, from the present time un- 
til he shall arrive at the age of twenty-one 
years, all of which time he is to be faithful, 
dutiful, and obedient, and carefully to refrain 
from all those vices and practices which it is 
reasonable that common apprentices should 
be required to conduct. And further, the said 
widow Tenney is to improve the whole of said 
term as though it were her own, two pieces of 
land which were assigned to said Ralph in the 
last will and testament of his father, William 
Tenney, dec'd, which lands are known by the 
name of the Hosier meadow, and wood-lot 
and road pasture; and the said widow Tenney 
on her part engages that she will from time to 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 8 1 

time and at all times during said term provide 
decent and suitable clothing and provision, and 
lodging -suitable for such a young man, and in 
all respects during said term she engages to do 
for and to treat said Ralph well as it is reason- 
able that a master should be required to do for 
or treat an apprentice, and at twenty-one to 
clothe him with three suits; and further she 
engages to give him two months' schooling in 
each year, and to keep for him the whole of 
said term one yoke of oxen or to the value 
thereof in other stock as he shall choose and 
provide, and also to give annually ten bushels 
of rye. And at the age of twenty-one years 
she hereby obligates herself to pay him two 
hundred dollars in money, or to bear interest, 
and if not paid in one year, compound interest 
till paid; and it is further agreed by the parties 
that in case said Ralph should by reason of 
sickness or wounds, be unable to labor at any 
one time for more than one week, the said 
widow shall have full compensation for the 
time which he shall lose in this manner, viz.: 
all over one week at a time, and that he shall 
be at the expense of all physicians and sur- 



82 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

geons for himself during said term; but for all 
the time he shall lose by sickness and not ex- 
ceeding one week at a time nor for any nursing 
or boarding, there shall be no charge against 
said Ralph. 

Agreed to this fifteenth day of Sept., 1806, by 

Phcebe Tenney, 
Ephraim Burge. 

Assented to by Ralph E. Tenney. 

Attest: Jesse Worcester." 

This same Ralph E. Tenney succeeded to 
the homestead. To it he brought, in 1818, as 
his second wife (his first wife was Olive Brown, 
who lived but a short time after her marriage), 
Phoebe C. Smith, the good and faithful help- 
meet who made his home bright and happy 
throughout his life. A few rods from the fam- 
ily residence a little house, once used as a malt- 
house, had been fitted up for the reception of 
the "town's poor" whom Mr. Tenney "bid off" 
according to the curious custom of the time. 
My earliest recollections of my aunt, Mrs. 
Tenney, are connected with the generous plat- 
ters of excellent food which I was accustomed 
to see her carry out to those unfortunate ones. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 83 

She moved among them like a queen, forgetful 
of her high estate, and seeking only to carry 
comfort and cheer to the needy; or like an 
angel of mercy, shedding the light of her high- 
er life upon darkened pathways. All through 
her long life, in her own large family, in the 
church and in the town, she was one of the most 
active and useful of women. 

Mr. Tenney early ranked as one of the sub- 
stantial men of Hollis. He was wise above 
many, for he knew both how to speak (and to 
speak well), and how to hold his peace. To 
many of those who knew him, he was, like 
General Grant of recent years, "the silent man"; 
but when he chose to speak, his words were 
weighty ones, with an influence which the words 
of no chatterer can carry. Hollis was a whig 
town. Mr. Tenney was an Adams man in 1824, 
but in 1828 he espoused Jackson's cause. On 
learning the fact, Squire Pool said, "That turns 
Hollis." 

In the course of his career Mr. Tenney filled 
nearly all the different town offices, and was 
for many years deputy sheriff of the county. 
He also served several terms in the State Leg- 



84 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

islature, both in the House and in the Senate, 
All of his children, except the eldest son, Wil- 
liam N. Tenney, who inherited the home farm, 
found distant homes. Emeline, who became 
Mrs. Putnam, of Bedford, Mass., was a charm- 
ing and lovable woman. She died many years 
since. Mrs. Phebe Tenney Mclntire rejoices 
in one son, Frank K. Her home is in Salem, 
Mass. Mary Tenney is the fortunate wife of 
Mr. L. P. Hubbard, of Greenwich, Conn., and 
her youngest sister, Harriet Maria Tenney, for- 
merly one among the many teachers who have 
gone out from Hollis, has for some years re- 
sided with Mrs. Hubbard. 

Sarah Tenney, Mrs. Rodney J. Hardy, has 
a home in the pleasant Boston suburb of Ar- 
lington. She has six or seven bright boys and 
girls, some of whom have won honors for the 
family at the various New England colleges. 

The two younger sons came to the west. 
Near the Chicago Post Office, at 46 Lakeside 
Building, is the business home of Ralph A, 
Tenney, the elder of these two, who has spent 
the last forty-one years mainly in the state of 
his adoption, Illinois. He was at first located 




/t^ ^ /^/<?^Z^' 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 85 

at Kewanee, being, indeed, one of the original 
founders and proprietors of that thriving town, 
and labored with characteristic public spirit to 
promote its best interests. Then came four 
years of service as Captain in the United States 
army. Since then, Chicago has been his resi- 
dence — with intervals for extensive travels in 
the East and on the Pacific slope. No man 
lives who holds more sacred, than R. A. Ten- 
ney, the memory of his childhood's home. No 
one rejoices more than he in the honors which 
come to HoUis through the lives — brilliant, dis- 
tinguished, famous, or simply noble, upright 
and good — of those whom she has sent forth to 
do the world's work. He loves the old home, 
but wherever he has lived — merry, genial, 
whole-souled, generous man that he is — he has 
gathered round him such a host of friends, and 
made himself so large a place in their esteem, 
that ever after that place is ''home" to him, 
and claims him as her own. With a heart as 
warm and tender as a woman's, his own confid- 
ing, trustful spirit and winning manner draw all 
to him. To old and young alike he is just 
"Ralph," and the name is a synonym for all 



86 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

that is cordial and kind and cheering. I al- 
ways think of him as young; he looks young 
and feels young; but, dear me, he isn't young. 
Why, he has several grandchildren, and one of 
them is a young lady grown. 

"Ralph's" youngest brother, Charles F. Ten- 
ney, has long resided at Bement, 111., where he 
has been a successful business man. A part of 
his interesting family have recently visited 
Hollis with him. Mr. Tenney is highly es- 
teemed in his town and county, as is proved by 
the majority which he received on the occasion 
of his election to the State Legislature. An- 
other Hollis man may be found in Bement, a 
brother of R. E. Tenney, now living in Hollis. 
I am told that he is doing a good business 
there. Still another brother has found an Iowa 
home at Farragut. 

All this passes before my mind as I linger in 
thought about my grandfather's farm. I can- 
not leave the spot of so many associations with- 
out remembering that it was my mother's birth- 
place, the home of her happy girlhood; that 
here she commenced her faithful, Christian life; 
that here she was married, and from here went 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 8/ 

forth to make the new home which provides 
the setting for the dearest of my own early 
memories. 

May the line of Tenneys, to own and occupy 
the dear old place, never fail; but may it never 
fall to a Tenney who shall not, in life and char- 
acter, be worthy to succeed to so rich an in- 
heritance and so noble an ancestry. 



88 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 



In the neighborhood of the Hubbards and 
the Tenneys lived Benjamin Farley, senior, 
father of Benjamin Mark Farley. I remember 
him only as a retired gentleman. In describing 
him I cannot do better than to quote from a 
speech of L. P. Hubbard, Esq., delivered in 
i8So. "He was a gentleman of the old school. 
He took a great interest in the boys. I worked 
for him sixty years ago; he could not have 
treated me more kindly if I had been his own 
son. On Saturdays, several hours earlier than 
usual, he would say, "Boys, it is time to quit 
work and get ready for the Sabbath." 

A little beyond we now find Mr. and Mrs. 
Jefferson Farley. I well remember the latter 
as a child, living at home with her father, Cap- 
tain Ben. Farley, as he was familiarly called. 

Let us stop next at the home of Amos East- 
man, Esq. He was already, in my childhood, 
far on the downward side of the hill of life, but 
he had been one of the strong, positive men of 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 8g 

the town. He had served in the Revolutionary 
War, and had held many important offices in 
Hollis. In 1826 I worked for him several 
weeks, picking apples; and I now recall that in 
the last year of my residence in Hollis, in 1832, 
on one Sabbath afternoon, I attended the 
funeral of the venerable man, and listened to 
an impressive sermon from the text, "Blessed 
are the dead who die in the Lord." 

His was a fine farm, and, judging from the 
tax-list, he must have been an extensive prop- 
erty owner. I have before me a list of those 
"warned out" in 1822, by the Selectmen, B. M. 
Farley and Wm. Ames, to work their road tax, 
at the rate of eight cents per hour for a man, 
and the same for a yoke of oxen. Here are a 
few of the items: Amos Eastman, $14.64; 
Daniel Lawrence, S7.36; Benjamin Farley, Esq., 
;^3.25; R. E. Tenney, ^4.42; Dr. William Hale, 
;g2.37; Alpheus Eastman, $3.17; James Hardy, 

.73. 

Next door dwelt Mr. Alpheus Eastman, an 
interesting man of great life and activity. I 
always liked the man in spite of the fact that 
he dreadfully disappointed my boyish aspira- 



go HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

tions when he decided, once upon a time, that 
I was too young to attend his singing school. 
Perhaps if he had been willing to take me then 
under his skillful tuition, I might be now a bet- 
ter singer than I am. He was high-keyed him- 
self, but none too much so for a man who keeps 
himself well under control. I doubt not that 
the sweet singer, the lover of earthly music, has 
been for many years — as we count time — sing- 
ing the "new song" of the redeemed, above. 
His son, William Plummer Eastman, very near 
my own age, was called to the ministry. He 
preached successfully through life in Ohio, and 
a few years ago was called to his reward. 

Passing by the Lawrence farm, a few years 
ago, I found that it had been divided up, and 
the mutations of three-score years had stripped 
it of all representatives of the old family which 
I recollect. It lay south of the home last men- 
tioned, and was the residence of Daniel Law- 
rence, one of the staid citizens of HoUis, an ex- 
tensive farmer, with a large family. The 
names which he chose for his sons are evidence 
of his acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures, 
for they are all to be found therein. Daniel 



MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. QI 

went early to seek his fortune in the wilds of 
the West. Mark followed his father's calling. 
Luke was indeed the beloved physician, but 
his life was full of suffering, and he died young. 
Caroline went about among the various families 
of the town, in the capacity of tailoress, and 
was greatly beloved by all who knew her. 

South of the Lawrence farm lived Jesse Read, 
who removed some time since, to New York 
City. 

Going on a little farther in this direction, I 
reach one of those old stone posts, common in 
New England, set up according to law as bound- 
ary marks. The capital letter "H" cut in the 
north side of the stone, gives me notice that I 
must not pass beyond, even far enough to look 
at the "P*' on the opposite side, if I would not 
step out of the town of Hollis, out of New 
Hampshire, out of my bailiwick, and into the 
town of Pepperell, Mass. 

"Fog End" is close at hand. It was fully 
seventy years ago that I first knew Mr. Matthew 
Withington who lived on the corner next to the 
blacksmith shop. For the times, he was a good 
and somewhat progressive farmer, and I re- 



92 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

member that he brought in improved stock. 
We boys always used to look with wonder at 
the blacksmith, Mr. William Adams, with his 
bowed form, bent nearly at right angles. He 
seemed to be, in spite of it, a strong, healthy 
man. He was very ingenious, and made good 
rifles in all their parts. 

Close by lived Amos Haggett, who, as regu- 
larly as the Sabbath morning came, might 
have been seen with his wife and daughter on 
the way to church, seated in their one-horse 
chaise, behind his fine, dark bay fast-stepper. 
The residence of Captain Flagg is one of 
those which I used often to visit with my father, 
and it seems that when I go again I shall see 
him as of old, and hear him talk in his pleasant 
way, and then, bringing out, every now and 
then, that quaint, favorite expression of his, 
"Bless my body! Bless my body!" But he 
has been under the sod these many years. The 
Rev. Mr. Smith was not more regular in attend- 
ance at meeting than Captain Flagg and his 
family, though he was often obliged to stand 
up during the sermon to prevent drowsiness. 
It is pleasant to know that a son occupies the 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 93 

old homestead, and all the more so since I have 
learned that the wife who presides over the 
home is a sister of James and Luther Proctor, 
who were my schoolmates at Beaver Brook 
school. 

Westward, toward Brookline, the land was of 
the poorest quality. I have not seen it for 
nearly seventy years, but I am sure I have 
never seen more bogs to the acre than were to 
be found in these meadows. The poor farmers, 
among whom were Levi Kemp and Jonas Law- 
rence, remained upon that wretched soil only 
because they did not know that the great, rich 
West was then open to settlement at a dollar 
and a quarter an acre. 

Robert Colburn's home was one of the land- 
marks of my time. His industry as cooper and 
farmer supported a large family. He was hap- 
py in a cheerful, contented disposition, and his 
merry laugh seemed to ring out as readily in 
times of adversity as in prosperity. 

Jf one of the old prophets had shown Jesse 
Worcester, Esq., three-fourths of a century ago, 
that his son, John N. Worcester, would com- 
mence and his grandsons bring to completion 



94 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

the great improvements on that old farm which 
he purchased in the south part of the town, and 
bring it to its present high state of culture, with 
its orchards and fruits, and its magnificent build- 
ings, I think he would have found it hard to put 
full faith in the vision. 

The original Worcester homestead, which 
has been in the family for more than a hundred 
and forty years, is about half a mile from the 
meeting-house. As I remember, Mr. Jesse 
Worcester, who resided there in my early boy- 
hood, was already growing old, and the young- 
est of his children was about five years older 
than myself. He was a dignified, venerable 
man, and took an active part in town matters. 
Being gifted with unusual endowments, his in- 
fluence was always important. His youthful 
patriotism had led him to enter the Revolu- 
tionary army when only fifteen years of age. 
He married, in 1783, Sarah Parker, who proved 
a true helpmeet during the long life they lived 
together. Their nine sons and six daughters 
all lived to adult age. Fourteen of them were 
teachers, and seven of the sons aspired to a 
college education. I love to look at the pho- 





^ ^4^ -^^^^T-iUJ ^ 



MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 



95 



tographs of that remarkable couple. Both are 
strong, well-balanced characters. I have fol- 
lowed the history of their children, and I ask, 
can anyone point me to a family like them in 
numbers, in character and in ability? One son 
alone, Joseph E. Worcester, author of the fa- 
mous dictionary and other books, has brought 
great honor upon his parents and upon his na- 
tive town. I was best acquainted with John N., 
the son who remained at home and spent his 
long life in Hollis. While he lived it always 
gave me pleasure to meet him, and now that 
he is gone, I cherish a strong interest in his 
enterprising sons. 

The old Worcester mansion and farm are still 
owned by members of the late T. Oilman Wor- 
cester's family, and his accomplished daughter. 
Miss L. E. Worcester, resides there. I trust 
it may be long before the place passes to an- 
other name. 

Some time ago, I received from an old Hollis 
friend, who has long since left the early home, 
a copy of the record of births in the Center 
School District, from 1798 to 1809, inclusive. 
As I read over the long list of names it is like 



96 MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

calling the roll of the dead. Many of them I 
knew. I met them on the street, in school, in 
church. Of those born in the year 1808, eleven 
are gone. Only two are living now, Luther 
Prescott Hubbard and David Worcester. The 
latter is the youngest of the fifteen children of 
the late Jesse Worcester. When we were boys 
at school, David was one of the large boys, wise 
and studious, to whom I looked up from my 
place among the "little shavers." A good 
many boys have gone from Hollis district 
school to Harvard University, and David Wor- 
cester was one of them. After spending two 
years in Harvard's classic halls, he became 
himself a teacher, opening a high school in 
Bangor, Me. Most of his life has been spent 
there, but some ten or twelve years ago he 
came to Iowa, and now lives in Albion, about 
thirty miles north of the town in which I re- 
side. There he dispenses justice to his fellow- 
citizens, and they are not disposed to release 
him from his important duties, although his 
years are four-score and four. In his courts the 
scales are held with an even balance. 

The full account given of this remarkable 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. g; 

family by Judge Worcester in his History of 
Hollis, published in 1878, makes it unnecessary 
for me to dwell upon it. My little sketches, 
however, would be incomplete without some 
mention of those members of the family whom 
I knew. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 



XI. 



Captain Jeremiah Dow I knew well. He 
owned a good farm, was a good farmer, and 
one of the substantial, prosperous men of the 
town. He had found a real helpmeet in the 
wife he had taken from one of the prominent 
families of HoUis. Tall and strong as was the 
manly Captain, he could not stand before the 
scythe of time, which cut him down some years 
ago. 

Another family which rises before me just as 
I knew them sixty or more years ago, is that of 
"Squire Pool," — gentlemanly 'Squire Pool. It 
seemed impossible for him ever to be, in word 
or act, anything but a gentleman. There were 
the parents, two sons and five daughters, all in- 
telligent, energetic, full of life, and leaders in 
the community. Benjamin, the eldest son, was 
the tallest man in Hollis, and John, at eighteen, 
was a champion wrestler and a very Hercules 
for strength. Strong and gifted as they were. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 99 

it is sad to think that, one by one, they have 
all passed away. 

I call next at the corner, where lived Deacon 
Enoch Jewett. He had a bright, energetic, 
ambitious family. Nathan Thayer married in 
succession two of his daughters; another daugh- 
ter married Col. William Emerson. Noah was 
a bright, talented boy, and Gibson became a 
physician in Kentucky. Death has claimed the 
deacon, his wife, and, I think, all the children. 

I want to add a few words concerning Dea- 
con Burge, though I have previously spoken of 
him as an officer in the church. He was one 
of the ripe Christians, of symmetrical, rounded 
character, of disciplined heart and head. His 
life was full of good works. Take him all in 
all, I have never known a better deacon. His 
family joined him heartily in works of benevo- 
lence; none were more faithful to the poor 
than they. I have heard the Rev. Doctor Caleb 
J. Tenney say, "Deacon Burge will come out 
like gold from the fire." 

I am glad to know that the Burge home has 
been kept in the name. Cyrus, a son, lived 
and died there, and it descends to a grandson, 
the present occupant, Mr. C. F. Burge. 



100 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

The important business point in Hollis, out- 
side the center, seventy years ago, was Run- 
nells' mill. Though there were several other 
mills in town, none of them had sufficient water 
to turn the great wheel all the year. Nathan 
Holt, Captain Wright and Winkel Wright, his 
brother, all owned mills which were kept run- 
ning while the water power was adequate, but 
were forced to be idle a considerable part of 
the year. But the Nashua never ran dry, and 
it furnished Runnells' mill with unfailing power. 
Every man, and every boy ten years old in all 
the country around, knew the road to that mill, 
where were ground the rye and corn which 
made the bread that was the daily food for that 
generation. Fine wheat flour was regarded as 
an expensive luxury. It was sold in the stores 
in small quantities— by the ''stone" or "half- 
stone" — and used in the various families on 
special festive occasions, or when visitors were 
entertained. 

When quite a small boy I was taught the 
way to Runnells' mill, and many a time, before 
I was ten, was I placed on top of a bag of corn, 
duly balanced across the old horse's back, and 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. ' lOI 

Started on the long road to mill. It was a long 
distance even beyond the Burge farm mentioned 
last. 

A little beyond that, was the Nathaniel Jew- 
ett home, now owned by Mr. William Farley. 
I recall that at one time the "town's poor" were 
sheltered in that house for the five years for 
which they had been auctioned off to the low- 
est bidder. 

Plodding along upon a slow walk, we (my 
old horse and I) pass what was afterwards the 
Fox Farm, and the road that turns to the left 
to Miles Wright's, then on over poor, sandy 
land, until we come to Mr. Benjamin Smith's 
home. A good man he was, and had married 
one of the proud-spirited, energetic daughters 
of Deacon Jewett. Why did they stay on that 
poor little farm? The best that could be said 
of it was that there was always plenty of water 
in the Nashua for his horse and cows. 

Now we come to the bridge, and then, soon, 
to the mill, where we find Samuel and Eben- 
ezer Runnells, father and son, busy with their 
varied labors in saw-mill, grist-mill, and card- 
ing machine; none too busy, however, to help 



102 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

the small boy off his horse, grind his grist, 
mount him once more on his sack of meal and 
start him on his homeward way. As the times 
were, that ever-busy mill was a great blessing 
to HoUis. 

I learn through the kindness of Mr. D. F. 
Runnells, of Nashua, that the estate known as 
the Runnells mill property was purchased by 
his great-grandfather, Ebenczer Runnells, in 
1777, and given to his son, Samuel Runnells, 
in consideration of which "the said Samuel," 
by his father's will, was to pay his mother 
thirty shillings yearly, and was also to make 
her "an annual visit during her natural life" — 
a duty which he faithfully performed. About 
the year 1795 Samuel Runnells built the 
saw and grist mill, with two run of stones, 
and afterwards added a carding mill. For many 
years the hum of business there was unceasing. 
Now all is changed. There is no noise of saw 
or rumble of mill-stones. If the boy I have 
been speaking of were to stand there to-day, 
with his white head and furrowed face, and 
call for Samuel Runnells, he would get no an 
swer. On inquiry he would be told that the 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. IO3 

old miller, so well known in his boyish days, 
had been dead nearly sixty years. Let him 
call for Ebenezer Runnells, and only the cease- 
less roJl of the swift river will answer, for he, 
too, died more than a quarter of a century ago; 
and the bare-foot boy now carries the weight 
of nearly four-score years upon his weary 
shoulders. 

That part of HoUis on the east side of the 
river, containing about five hundred acres of 
land, was known as "the Pumpkin Yard." It 
was divided into several farms, one of them 
owned by the Runnells family, one by VVinslow 
Read, and one by Thaddeus Marshall who had 
two promising sons, Darwin and Freeman, and 
one or more daughters. Dunstable people will 
never cease to boast of the good bargain they 
made, in ceding the territory of the "Pumpkin 
Yard" to Hollis, with the consideration that 
HoUis should build the bridge and keep it up 
perpetually. 

On either side of the Worcester mansion with 
its family of fifteen children, were two other 
large families. In Mr. Sewall Butterfield's 
home, as I have been told, were sixteen chil- 



104 MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

dren, while Mr. William Wood, less than a mile 
away, must have been envious with only four- 
teen. Had these forty-five children all been 
of school-age together, the three households 
would have amply filled a country school house 
of ordinary size. 

Not far away lived Elias Conant, a wheel- 
wright by trade, with a great passion for fox- 
hunting. I seldom ever saw him unaccom- 
panied by one or more of his fox-hounds or 
his grayhound. Foxes were plenty in those 
days. I often saw them as I went to the woods 
pasture for the cows. Sometimes they were 
tame enough to come out and play with my 
little dog. 

Once a year Mr. Conant had friends from 
Salem, Mass., spending a week with him for the 
fox-chase. I often watched them searching 
for the track of the fox in our pasture. When 
they had found it the hounds would start off 
with their noses to the ground, uttering their 
peculiar hoarse bark at every jump. The game 
was sly and cunning, and would lead them 
a long chase over the Ratmatat and up to 
Rocky Pond; then turning and doubling the 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. IO5 

track, I saw him sometimes back near the start- 
ing point, while the bark of the dogs was far 
away. At times the sounds of the chase con- 
tinued far into the night. It was fine sport for 
the city folks and there was great excitement 
and great parade over it all. Perhaps the foxes 
enjoyed it too; I cannot remember that any of 
them were ever the worse for all the stir and 
tumult. 

A little to the east lived Nathan Holt; a quiet, 
good man, reliable in business, and regular in 
attendance at church on the Sabbath. He was 
a small farmer, and also owned a mill, the water 
being carried from the pond some distance in 
an elevated box to the overshot wheel, which 
was watched with great interest by the boys. 
Mr. Holt had two sons, Artemas and Fifield, 
and one daughter, Sibyl, who married Asa Far- 
ley, and removed to Michigan. 

Near by lived Ralph Lovejoy who was feared 
by the boys as one of the active and watchful 
tithing-men. I think he served in this office 
until the whole system was dropped or died a 
natural death. In those days we had about the 
same feeling toward the tithing-men, that the 
Jews had toward the Roman tax-gatherer. 



I06 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

The pleasant place where Mr. Daniel Merrill 
lived so long and reared his large family is not 
far from the meeting-house. Mr. Merrill was 
a good and energetic business man and accu- 
mulated a fine property. Being a man of 
strength and decision of character, he had his 
own views of business and politics, and occa- 
sionally "spoke out in meeting," as already re- 
lated. Upon his decease, at a good old age, 
the farm descended to his son, William, whose 
daughter and only child inherited the proper- 
ty. She now has passed away, and the old home 
is in the hands of strangers. 

Samuel Ouaid and Mr. Avery were residents 
of the immediate neighborhood east and south 
of the church. The first was a harness-maker, 
the second a shoemaker. Mr. Quaid was ac- 
customed to apply himself closely to business. 
He married Sarah Boynton in 1825. Mr. Avery 
was a jovial, rollicking sort of man, one of 
the sort who "sleep o' nights," I should think. 
At all events, I know that he was so fat that 
when he sharpened his knife on his shoe, he 
had great difHculty in bringing the two togeth- 
er. I think he excelled in avoirdupois all the 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I07 

men in Hollis, except Major Parker, in the 
southwest part of town. He had, withal, a 
a mathematical mind, and often helped the 
school-masters when they came upon a particu- 
larly knotty problem; he would also leave his 
work at any time to puzzle them with hard 
questions. 

Leonard VV. Farley was one of our carpen- 
ters, an excellent and industrious man with 
steady nerve and level head, as those would 
testify who have seen him high up toward the 
sky repairing the meeting-house steeple. A 
few years later than the time I have been speak- 
ing of, he built a house a little east of town, to 
which he took Miss Butterfield, his estimable 
wife. 

About half a mile east of the center of the 
town was an excellent farm in a good location, 
where lived its owner Jonathan Saunderson. 
He had married, in 1792, a sister of 'Squire 
Pool. At the time of my earliest recollection 
of them, there was an interesting family of 
three sons and two daughters, all older than 
myself. Jonathan, the oldest son, received a 
college education and studied law with 'Squire 



I08 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

Farley. He was also a great lover of music, 
and himself a fine singer. On one occasion, 
on his return to Hollis after a long absence, he 
attended a conference meeting in the church. 
Mr. Smith gave out a hymn and waited for 
some one to "start the tune." No one seemed 
able to do so, till, finally, Mr. Saunderson be- 
gan with his melodious voice, which so charmed 
the congregation that they listened without 
joining him till he had sung the entire hymn 
through alone. 

William, the second son, married Miss Mar- 
shall and remained through life at the old 
homestead. Henry became a minister and 
preached in Vermont and New Hampshire. 
The two daughters were beautiful and intelli- 
gent girls. Both married in Hollis and died 
young. When I left Hollis the venerable 
couple were living, but ere long passed from 
earth, and I think all their children have fol- 
lowed them. 

Still a little further east we come to the pleas- 
ant neighborhood made by the Holden and 
Jewett families, among the most worthy and 
true in town. In the Holden household there 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. IO9 

were many children. Caroline was the one I 
knew best, as she was for several years teacher 
of Beaver Brook school; but I knew Sarah, also, 
who became the honored wife of the late John 
N. Worcester. 

Among the Jewetts, I remember Ralph as a 
prominent man. In this neighborhood was al- 
so the home of "Jack" Jewett, as he was famil- 
iarly called, and of his sister Eliza. They both 
lived to a good old age, spending their last 
years in the Conant house near the center of 
the town. They, too, have passed away. 

A little south of this attractive region lived 
Burpee Ames, a live, active man for one so 
near the "Sunset Land," and one who had long 
been identified with the best interests of Hollis. 



no HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 



XII. 



A short distance east and south of the HolHs 
meeting-house was the home of Deacon Daniel 
Emerson, a man born in Hollis, and who spent 
the seventy-four years of his life there. He 
was the son of the first minister, Rev. Daniel 
Emerson, and no better man ever lived in 
Hollis, unless it was his father. 

Seventy-one years ago I attended Deacon 
Emerson's funeral, and was gently led to the 
coffin by my mother. His was the first dead 
face I had ever seen, and I remember how the 
marble appearance struck a chill to my heart. 
Then I saw the people gather about, and wit- 
nessed their grief; all the town seemed to be 
present, the rich and the poor, each mourning 
the loss of a friend. I saw the coffin lowered 
into the grave and covered. I cannot describe 
the feeling that overcame me; I thought it an 
awful thing to die. 

I remember the walk home up Conant Lane, 
when my mother told me that the soul was in 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. Ill 

heaven, that the body would turn to dust, that 
God would watch over that dust, and at the 
Judgment day it would rise a glorified body, 
and so it would be with all who were Christians. 
As the years passed, even to the time when 
I left Hollis, people still spoke in praise of 
Deacon Daniel Emerson. The poor never for- 
got to tell how he had helped them, and no one 
ever said aught against him. In Worcester's 
History of Hollis is found quite a full account 
of this man, raised up for the time and place, 
and from it I quote a few facts. "He was born 
in 1746, married Amy Fletcher in 1768, was 
chosen deacon in 1775, and held the office un- 
til his death in 1821; he was appointed coroner 
and high sheriff of the county; he served as 
captain through all, or nearly all, the Revolu- 
tionary War; he was a member of the N. H. 
Council and the Constitutional Convention, and 
was Representative to the N. H. General Court 
nineteen different years. The family of Dea- 
con Emerson was an honor to himself and a 
blessing to the world; three sons — Daniel, Jo- 
seph and Ralph — became ministers, the last be- 
ing a professor at Andover Seminary." 



112 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

Perhaps among all the shining names of those 
among the children of Hollis, whom she de- 
lights to honor, not one will show brighter upon 
the heavenly register than that of the Rev. Jo- 
seph Emerson, the modest, earnest, pious man, 
feeble in body but exceedingly vigorous of 
mind and character. He was a worthy son of 
his excellent father, the deacon. He filled sev- 
eral pastorates with eminent success, but the 
work for which the world will longest remem- 
ber and honor him was that which he did to 
promote the higher education of women. In 
that cause he was indeed a pioneer. His sem- 
inary for the education of v/omen as teachers, 
opened in Byfield, Massachusetts, in 1818, in 
accordance with his long-cherished purpose, 
was the first Protestant female seminary, not 
only in America, but in the world. What 
would be to-day the status of woman's educa- 
tion in the United States, but for the life and 
labor of Mary Lyon and Miss Z. P. Grant? 
Both were pupils of Joseph Emerson, and held 
him in loving, grateful remembrance to the lat- 
est day of their lives, while both were wont to 
express a deep sense of their indebtedness to 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. II 3 

him for his large share in their preparation for 
their great life work. Let every woman who 
rejoices to-day in the opportunities open to her 
for the highest university training revere the 
memory of Joseph Emerson. 

I naturally call next at the house of the old 
pastor, Rev. Eli Smith. I have previously 
spoken of him, and will only add that he was a 
strong man, true to his convictions; nothing 
could turn him to the right or to the left from 
what he considered to be duty. Although Mr. 
Smith was an old man when his labors closed 
with the HoUis church, he sought new fields, 
and preached until about the close of his life. 
He married Amy Emerson, daughter of Dea- 
con Emerson, and she was indeed a model pas- 
tor's wife, I will but say of her, Blessed wife, 
blessed mother, blessed woman in the church 
and in the town! Three sons and two daugh- 
ters were about this home seventy years ago — 
Luther, Joseph Emerson, John, Catharine and 
Amy. They all left HoUis early in life, save 
Joseph E., who still lives on the old homestead. 
He has held during his long life many impor- 
tant positions in town, and represented the 



114 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

town in the legislature. I saw him in his home 
not long since, and he paid me this moderate 
compliment, "I see by your letters that you 
retain your memory and faculties yet." 

I have known tour generations of this family, 
and, from what I have seen of the fourth, I feel 
sure that the stock is not running out. 

Dea. William Emerson was one of the live, 
wide-awake men of HoUis, full of kindness and 
good works, and fond of military life; his wife 
was a daughter of Deacon Jewett. Perhaps I 
may say this was one of the most aristocratic 
families in town. The children whom I re- 
member were younger than myself — William, 
Sarah and Charles. William has passed from 
my knowledge; Sarah I met, I believe, in i88o; 
I had lost sight of Charles for nearly sixty 
years, but a few years since found him to be a 
resident of Keokuk, in my own adopted state, 
and I have since had a pleasant correspondence 
with him. As might be expected from his an- 
cestry, he is a good, reliable man, and an active 
member of the Congregational church where 
he resides. 

Across the street from Deacon Emerson's, 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. II5 

and near the southeast corner of the old center 
cemetery, resided Hannah French, a maiden 
lady of perhaps forty or fifty years, living alone 
in two small rooms. She was very industrious, 
and one of the most devoted Christians I have 
ever known. Miss French used to make straw 
hats for a livelihood, and, being somewhat ec- 
centric, when she had occasion to walk the 
streets for a longer or shorter distance, she was 
usually braiding straw and talking to herself. 
She attended nearly all the meetings, whether 
in the church or in distant school-houses, al- 
ways, on week-days, working with her fingers 
and talking to herself as she proceeded to and 
fro, 

Hannah French was poor, always poor, but 
one of God's poor, rich in faith and good 
works. Eccentric as she was, laugh about her 
though they did, she was an advanced Chris- 
tian. When the American Board had been or- 
ganized some ten or fifteen years, an agent 
came to HoUis to raise funds. The sentiment 
of the people was largely against sending money 
away from home, but Hannah French advo- 
cated giving, saying, the world was to be con- 



Il6 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

verted to Christ, and the gospel must be sent 
to the heathen. Poor as she was, she gave her 
last cent for the cause of foreign missions. Mr, 
L. P. Hubbard of Greenwich, Conn., tells me 
that the very day on which she gave her all, 
she met a merchant who bought a quantity of 
straw hats of her, and by this sale her empty 
purse was again filled. Now we are all up to 
her standard; now we all see as she saw seventy 
years ago. "The secrets of the Lord are 
with them that fear him." 

I have already spoken of Ambrose Gjuld, 
merchant and postmaster, but I think I did not 
say that his wife was a sister of Captain Page 
Farley. They had three sons and three daugh- 
ters, who held leading positions in society, but 
all sought distant homes as early as 1830. 

When Ambrose Gould kept the postoffice it 
was a small affair, for such an institution had 
been established in HoUis only a few years. 
Newspapers were not then generally carried 
through the mail, if indeed they were so carried 
at all, and the tri-weekly mail carried by one 
Mr. Small from Amherst to Groton, and by 
which HoUis was served, did not brini^ us our 



MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. II7 

newspapers. I suspect that there was only one 
paper taken in Hollis in those early days, 
though I will not be positive. Certainly there 
were just fifty-two numbers taken in Hollis of 
The Farmers Cabinet, established in Amherst, 
then the county seat of Hillsborough county, 
in the year 1792, by Richard Boylston. The 
responsibility of procuring their papers each 
week from the publisher rested on the sub- 
scribers. They went, by turns, every Saturday, 
to Amherst, and left the package of papers at 
Mr. Gould's store for distribution, that for the 
man who must next bring the bundle from 
Amherst having written on the margin, "Your 
turn next." 

The "turn" of one of the farmers chanced, 
once upon a time, to come on his very busiest 
haying day. Neither he nor his horse could be 
spared. The hay must be carted to the barn 
before Sunday, and the papers must be brought 
from Amherst. It was settled that the young- 
est of the three boys — a little chap of nine or 
ten years — must go on foot. I don't remember 
that the boy's wishes were consulted, but off 
he was started on Saturday morning for the 



Il8 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

long walk of nine or ten miles over a strange 
road. The boys of those days were not the 
timid, delicate creatures we sometimes see now- 
a-days, and the little fellow trudged sturdily 
away over the hills, whistling to himself for 
company, if I remember rightly, and taking 
care to ask every individual he met on the way, 
whether that was the right road to Amherst. 
Having found the office, and scanned with 
sharp, curious, boyish eyes the face of that 
great man, the editor, and the mysterious ap- 
pliances of the printing room, he secured his 
fifty-two papers and turned to retrace his steps. 
His mother had not forgotten to fill his jacket 
pocket with a mid-day lunch, and, having left 
the town behind, he sat down by the wayside 
and refreshed himself for the return journey. 
He remembers yet how slow and toilsome was 
his progress over the sandy road near the cor- 
ner where the four towns, HoUis, Amherst, Mil- 
ford and Merrimac meet, and how he took a 
short rest at Joseph Patch's store. He has not 
forgotten, either, how his weary legs and arms 
ached when he at last reached Mr. Gould's 
store and laid the bundle gladly down on the 



MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. IIQ 

counter. The years since then have turned Lhe 
boy's brown hair white, and he has long dwelt 
far from the scenes of his childhood, but among 
the most vivid of his "recollections of seventy 
years ago" is that of his long walk for those 
fifty-two copies of The Farmers Cabinet. 

In the family of Nehemiah Woods were five 
sons and two or more daughters, but all left 
Hollis about 1826, In 1S40 the oldest son, Ne- 
hemiah Park Woods, was commanding a steamer 
on the Mississippi, James, better known in 
Hollis as "Jim" Woods, I saw in the territory 
of Iowa, a full-fledged lawyer, in 1840. He re- 
sided in Iowa until his death, a few years ago. 
At that time he was the oldest practicing law- 
yer in that state and was well known there. 

Now that I am in the vicinity of the Price 
house, I am reminded that Gibson Jewett be- 
gan to build, but was unable to finish it, and 
Mr. Price of Boston, one of his creditors, com- 
pleted it. In addition to house and store, he 
made what was for the time a fine hall for pub- 
lic gatherings. Perhaps it was the hall that 
suggested to the young people the idea of a 
dancing school, though the religious sentiment 



120 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

of the community was against dancing. A Mr, 
Francis Radoux, a Frenchman from Boston, 
was engaged as teacher, and a class was formed 
of a select number of chosen ones, others 
being refused admittance. This naturally gave 
offense, and another dancing school was organ- 
ized with the intention of using the same hall 
for its meetings. To prevent this, school num- 
ber one dispatched an application post-haste, 
to the owner in Boston, to engage the room for 
the whole time of the winter season. Learn- 
ing of this fact an hour later, school number 
two equipped Jewett Conant with a swift steed 
and a light sulky and ordered him to reach Bos- 
ton in advance of messenger number one or 
perish in the attempt. Half-way to the goal 
Conant procured a fresh horse, and having dis- 
guised himself past recognition, had the satis- 
faction of passing his rival a few miles out of 
Boston, winning the race, and securing the use 
of the hall for two evenings a week, as he de- 
sired. The excitement in town did not subside 
until the following evening, when Conant re- 
turned, the champion of victory. So there 
were two dancing schools in Hollis that winter. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 121 



XIII. 



North from the Price building lived Jonathan 
Eastman, commonly called "Jack" Eastman. 
He had been educated at Dartmouth College, 
entered the United States army, and served in 
the war of 1812 as paymaster, was at Hull's 
surrender in Canada, returned to Hollis with 
broken health and died in 1827, leaving an in- 
teresting family. His son Porter and his daugh- 
ter Eleanor were particularly bright children. 

The few lines which I have given to "'Squire 
Mark" Farley seem hardly sufficient for one so 
well known, and whose life was of so great value 
to his native town and state. Yet, perhaps, be- 
cause his history is so well known to the pres- 
ent generation, I do not need to say more, and 
will only add that the men are few indeed who 
could have filled his place, or whose services to 
Hollis could have been so important. Of his 
promising family, "Ben" was the only son. He 
proved too modest a man to fulfill his father's 
hopes by becoming a lawyer, and retired to a 



122 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

farm near Worcester, Mass., where he still lives, 
five years older than myself. 'Squire Farley 
educated his daughters chiefly at home, open- 
ing for their sakes a small private school for 
which he had fitted up a room, and for which he 
secured an accomplished lady, Miss Ripley, as 
teacher, admitting a small number of pupils 
from neighboring families as companions for 
his daughters. Among them was my sister, 
Ruth Channing Little. The time came when, 
one by one, the children had all gone out into 
the world, and the wife had been taken from 
his side. Then "'Squire Mark" went to reside 
on Beacon St., Boston, with his daughter, Mrs. 
Bancroft, who cheered his last years with her 
affectionate and tender care. When death 
came the aged form was brought to Hollis, to 
lie amid the familiar scenes, awaiting the res- 
urrection morn. 

When I was a young man a book was pub- 
lished entitled "The Pleasures of Memory." 
Not long after, another book appeared, on "The 
Pains of Memory." Was ever poet or philoso- 
pher able to grasp it, to fathom it, to under- 
stand it — that marvelous power which preserves 



MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 1 23 

secure, indestructible, the minutest atom of 
human experience, while score after score of 
years pass over, each seeming to bury deeper 
and deeper, beyond the possibility of resurrec- 
tion, the unregarded fragments of early life? 
Yet, by the power of memory they come forth 
vivid, distinct, full of life and vigor as when 
first they made their impress on the youthful 
mind. As I have been writing these letters and 
revisiting, in thought, the scenes of former 
days, and especially since traversing, as I did 
last summer, the old familiar streets of Hollis, 
items of childish knowledge and experience 
rise before me with all the freshness and clear- 
ness of sixty or seventy years ago. I have 
been a child again, and lived once more my 
childhood and youth. Most of the memories 
which come back to me are pleasant ones, but 
some things I could wish buried in oblivion. 
Memory does not let us choose what things she 
shall bring forth from her store-house and pass 
before our willing or unwilling eyes. Some- 
times the most trivial or foolish incidents re- 
turn with most distinctness to our recollection. 
As I passed the Deacon Leonard W. Farley 



124 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

house, last August, it came to my mind that I 
heard the men say when the house was building, 
that Mr. Farley bought for a dollar, a stone 
near Mr. Holden's, that split like a chestnut log 
and furnished the foundation of his house and 
the fine door-steps. I had not thought of it for, 
perhaps, sixty years, and I only vouch for what 
I heard others say. 

In one of the families of which I have writ- 
ten there were two daughters, young ladies of 
unusual brilliancy, beauty and attractiveness. 
One of them had several suitors. There came 
a time when one of these seemed to have "got 
left," as the boys say now. Then somebody 
wrote of him in derision a so-called "poem," 
and copies were freely scattered through the 
town. There being little literature in those 
days, this crude poetic effusion was read by 
many, and even committed to memory. After 
more than three-score years of oblivion it comes 
back to me complete as when it first appeared 
on Hollis streets. I venture to repeat a few 
lines for the benefit of the present generation: 

"A famous young painter in Hollis did dwell, 
For fine, foppish ornaments none could excel. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 1 25 

Of his jewels and buttons he often did boast, 
And no one knew how much they cost. 
He courted a damsel of fortune and fame, 
The fairest of jewels, Miranda by name. 
His visits were frequent, yet sad was his grief 
When he found she was absent with William, the 
priest." 

William Ames, Esq., living near the center 
of the town, was an intelligent, industrious, am- 
bitious man. He was a shoemaker, but he had 
a taste for farming which led him to buy up 
tracts of meadow and out-lands in different 
parts of the town. He was a very hard worker; 
I have seldom known any who equalled him 
in that respect. Doubtless his life was short- 
ened by his excessive labors. I knew his son 
and daughter, William and Sarah, as bright 
and interesting children. 

Dr. Joseph F. Eastman was one of our most 
marked men. Born in Hollis in 1772, he stud- 
ied medicine and practiced in New Boston for 
a few years, but returned afterwards to his 
farm near the center of his native town, where 
he resided until his death in 1865. Worcester's 
History tells us that he was for forty-seven 
years Coroner of the town, and for fifteen 



126 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

years Moderator of Town meeting. Being a 
fearless, outspoken man, he made a good pre- 
siding officer. He seems to have had a real 
talent for farming, and took special delight in 
improving its methods and enlarging its results. 
His experiments and improvements were of 
value to many others. More than most men 
of that time he traveled, taking frequent trips 
to the state of New York, going, sometimes, as 
far as Buffalo. Wherever he went he held an 
open mind for the reception of new ideas of 
practical value, and returned home to apply to 
his own business suggestions gathered from his 
observations among the farmers of New York 
hills and valleys, or from the Dutch along the 
Hudson and Mohawk rivers. He was the first 
in Hollis to exchange the slow ox-team on the 
farm for horses, and he did much to develop and 
improve the fruits cultivated in this region. In 
all his enterprises his wife was the best of help- 
ers. There were two sons and four daughters. 
Joseph, who succeeded his father on his farm, 
died in a few years. The daughters showed 
great executive ability. Sophia became the 
successful head of a state institution at Troy, 



MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 12'] 

N. Y. The machinery of the large boarding 
house in Lowell, Mass., over which Abigail pre- 
sided, ran like clock-work. Sarah, the oldest 
daughter, married Jeremiah Dow, in 1818, and 
on her husband's death, in 1876, Mrs. Dow, hav- 
ing inherited her ancestral home as the only 
remaining member of her father's family, re- 
turned there to reside. 

Not far away stood the pleasant house where 
Joel Hardy spent most of his married life, and 
where most of his children were born, and 
whence he was borne to his burial. But I knew 
Mr. Hardy several years before he occupied 
this home, when he bought the Aaron Proctor 
farm, in 1823, and brought thither his young 
bride, Eliza Johnson. I remember the eager 
interest with which we children watched for the 
carriages conveying the bridal party to pass 
our lane on the wedding day, and what an ele- 
gant affair we thought it as the procession of 
friends and neighbors filed by, escorting the 
young couple from Pine Hill to their new home. 
Joel Hardy came of good, fighting. Revolu- 
tionary stock, and himself early became captain 
of a military company. He was one of seven 



128 MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

sons, all but one endowed with good Scripture 
names: Jesse, Joel, Amos, Eli, Luther, Phineas 
and Daniel. I rather admire the spirit which 
placed Luther among the Bible saints and 
prophets as quite worthy a place in the list. 
Later J shall have occasion to speak of others 
of these seven brothers, but now I return to 
Joel. When only a boy of eleven I worked for 
him at dropping corn and other farm labors, 
and I then had an opportunity to become ac- 
quainted with both Mr. and Mrs. Hardy. As 
we worked in the field together — the man of 
position and influence, and the boy just begin- 
ning to open his curious eyes in eager question- 
ing as to what the future might hold for him — 
we talked together, and many an interesting 
thought dropped into that immature mind 
abides to-day. 

From the earliest settlement of the town, the 
road to the top of Proctor Hill had followed 
the hard, steep grade up the hillside. IL waited 
for the observant eye of Joel Hardy to see that 
by curving north, an easy ascent could be 
made. By his energy, influence and labor the 
road was changed, while all wondered that they 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I29 

should have travelled the old, steep way so 
long. 

About this time I heard the Rev. Mr. Smith 
read from the pulpit a notice like this: '']ogl 
Hardy and his wife desire to return thanks to 
God for recent favors." Whether the occasion 
for the thanksgiving was the arrival of Rodney 
J., or his oldest sister, I am not quite sure. The 
old custom of giving public thanks from the 
pulpit for favors of that sort was not continued 
in Hollis for many years longer. When Rev. 
David Perry came to be pastor of the church, 
he declined to read such notices, believing it 
better that the thanks should be offered in pri- 
vate. After Mr. Hardy left the farm and set- 
tled in the home which he occupied for the re- 
mainder of his life, he carried on coopering for 
a time, and afterwards turned his attention to 
cattle dealing, a business which he continued 
to follow while he lived. Mr. and Mrs. Hardy 
reared a large and worthy family. The four 
boys, having acquired a good business educa- 
tion, early left home to make their own way, 
and some of the daughters became fine teachers. 
Squire Mark Farley complimented, as it seemed 



130 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

to me, both parents and children, when he said 
on one occasion, "I love to see the HoUis chil- 
dren come home. Especially do I love to see 
the children of Joel Hardy and Ralph E. Ten- 
ney come home." During the past year I have 
seen a goodly number of the children and 
grandchildren of Joel Hardy, and can testify 
that the stock is not running out, that the later 
generations are better educated than their an- 
cestors, and equally enterprising. I speak from 
a knowledge of four generations of the family. 
It has been my happiness twice in less than two 
years to visit in the family of Rodney J., one 
of the sons of Joel Hardy, where I have been 
delighted to notice the intelligence and culture 
of the large family of children, presided over, 
I may be permitted to add, by their mother, 
who was one of the Hollis Tenney girls. 

North of Dr. Eastman lived Mr. David Hale, 
already in my boyhood an old man. He was 
born in Hollis, and there reared his large 
family of boys and girls. John was a great ma- 
chinist and made many valuable inventions. I 
believe that the cider mill and press invented 
by him before 1830 have never been surpassed 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I3I 

by any later inventions. All of the large fam- 
ily have now passed from my knowledge ex- 
cept the two youngest sons. 

It was a good citizen and a fine mechanic 
who occupied the modest home a little to the 
west of Mr. Hale's. Captain Benjamin Farley 
had bought it and fitted it neatly up, and there 
he spent his after life. He had a very interest 
ing family, but it is sad to learn that only one 
of the number remains. I had the .pleasure of 
meeting that one last summer in the person of 
Mrs. Jefferson Farley (Captain Benjamin Far- 
ley's daughter, Charlotte,) and I am glad to 
acknowledge here the many kindnesses re- 
ceived from herself and her husband while a 
guest in theirpleasant home during my stay in 
Hollis. 



132 MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

XIY. 

Very near my old home, and not far to the 
west from Dr. Eastman's towards the Proctor 
Hill, lived Mr. Stephen Farley. Born in 1753, 
I recollect him only as an old man, one of the 
placid, quiet, genuine, good men. Most of his 
eight children lived to adult age, but all except 
the gentle, frail Joanna had left the parental 
home, and the wife and mother had gone to 
her grave. 

Stephen Farley, Jr., the eldest son, was a 
graduate of Dartmouth College, a fine scholar, 
and an able preacher. Isaac became a deacon 
in the Hollis church in 1832. In the father 
and the invalid daughter, not yet thirty years 
old, I took great interest when I first knew the 
family, more than seventy years ago. I cannot 
remember having ever seen Joanna, except up- 
on her bed or in a large rocking-chair, but the 
pale, sweet, loving face always drew me 
toward her, and her gentle, unselfish life, so 
full of thought for others, so forgetful of her 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 1 33 

own suffering, has been my admiration ever 
since. Child as I was then, I still remember 
the pleasure I used to take in my visits to the 
lovely invalid and the dear, little, old man. He 
was bowed with age and racked with asthma, 
but always gentle and kind, with a cheery wel- 
come for the boy. Mr. Farley owned a fairly 
good farm where he had long resided, but his 
desire for rest in his old age and relief from 
care, led him to do what is seldom wise for 
anyone. He made the property all over to a 
son-in-law, Captain Hubbard, reserving only a 
life lease of a little piece of land of three or 
four acres south of the road, and the eastern 
part of the house, with the condition that his 
daughter Joanna and himself should be pro- 
vided for during their lives. It seemed for a 
time that the desired rest and ease had been 
secured by the plan. Mrs. Hubbard cared 
kindly for her father and sister. But a change 
was made. Another person bought the farm, 
assuming the obligations imposed upon Cap- 
tain Hubbard, and disappointment and sorrow 
were henceforth the lot of the two dependent 
ones. Neglect and unkindness on the part of 



134 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

some, took the place of affectionate care. Still 
the old man made no complaint, but worked 
his few acres of land, and did what he could 
for his sick child. But they were made to feel, 
more and more keenly, that they were an in- 
cumbrance, and their life grew harder and 
sadder, day by day. I have seen the tears 
course down the poor old man's face, as he 
spoke of his changed circumstances. Even the 
paper which secured him the life use of his 
small piece of reserved land, mysteriously dis- 
appeared after a time, and others possessed 
themselves of the land, but he uttered no harsh 
words of blame. The frail form could no longer 
hold the beautiful, chastened spirit of Joanna, 
and the forsaken tenement was laid in the 
grave, while the free spirit soared upward, and 
Joanna was no longer an incumbrance. 

The old man lived on alone in the east room 
of his house. How often have I seen him there, 
reading over and over, the one beloved book, 
the old family Bible, and have heard him pray, 
standing with his hands upon the back of a 
chair. Did he sometimes hear, I have won- 
dered, that voice which said to such as he, 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 1 35 

"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest?" Did the dim 
and weary eyes rest with longing upon the 
words which pictured the home toward which 
he journeyed? "And God shall wipe away all 
tears from their eyes; and there shall be no 
more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither 
shall there be any more pain." In his old age 
of loneliness and poverty, did he find heavenly 
comfort as he read, "In my Father's house are 
many mansions. I go to prepare a place for 
you!" And again, "He hath made us kings and 
priests unto God and his Father." Did he turn 
from thoughts of his worn and thread-bare 
clothing to visions of the glorified raiment of 
the redeemed? Of the great multitude stand- 
ing before the throne, and the Lamb clothed in 
white robes, with palms in their hands? Sitting 
lonely, in the darkness of night, struggling with 
his old enemy, the asthma, for the breath of 
earthly life, was he not cheered to think how 
near must be the green fields and the pure 
sweet air of heaven? Perhaps he said over and 
over to himself words of Holy Writ made fa- 
miliar with his daily readings, "And there shall 
be no night there; and they need no candle, 



136 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth 
them light." **They shall hunger no more, 
neither thirst any more;" "And they shall see 
his face, and his name shall be in their fore- 
heads." Shrinking, as timid mortals do, from 
the crossing of the dread river separating the 
gloom and sorrow here from the brightness 
and gladness on the other side, was he not 
strengthened as he thought, "Yea, though I 
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 
I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy 
rod and thy staff they comfort me." Then 
how he must have rested upon the promise of 
God and walked fearlessly on, saying, "Blessed 
are the dead which die in the Lord, that they 
may rest from their labors, and their works do 
follow them." 

He lived on his patient life till that cold Jan- 
uary in 1837, having ever before him the vision 
of the city which hath foundations, where the 
building of the wall of it was of jasper; and the 
city was of pure gold like unto clear glass. 
Joyfully he greeted the summons to enter there, 
where he was no more an incumbrance. And 
they took up Stephen and carried him to his 
burial; and the weary traveler was at rest. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I37 



XV. 



We are now on the borders of Beaver Brook 
school district. Some of those living here have 
been mentioned, but I cannot pass by others 
residing so near my old home. 

Abel Farley lived on the farm with Mrs. Ste- 
vens, and I remember many of his neighborly 
kindnesses. He and my father often ex- 
changed work. I think he was brother to Cap- 
tain Benjamin, and Leonard W. Farley. 

The Farleys were good citizens, amiable and 
genuine in character; and the Farleys seemed 
to like the Farleys, as Abel, Jefferson, Alfred 
and Perry, married ladies of their own name. 

Now I climb the Proctor Hill for the last 
time in my letters, as probably I have climbed 
it for the last time in life. 

Mr. Smith used to hold evening meetings at 
the home of Aaron Proctor, and I attended 
some of them with my parents, when seven or 
eight years of age. I lemember Mr. Smith's 
asking one and another as to the religious state 



138 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

of their minds, beginning generally with the man 
of the house. Aaron Proctor would say, "I 
feel pretty stnpid." I could not understand 
what he meant, but the words seemed to be 
"catching," for I recall that some of the others, 
as they were questioned, replied also, "I feel 
rather stupid." At these meetings, one, and 
sometimes two rooms, were filled by the peo- 
ple. How many could be gathered there now 
at such a meeting? Aaron Proctor was a 
grandson of Moses Proctor, who settled early 
on the Hill. Deacon E. J. Colburn, to whom I 
am indebted for certain dates and other items 
of interest which I shall use, tells me that he 
was, perhaps, the fourth settler of the town; 
surely he was a man of real pluck to settle on 
that hill at so early a date. 

Next beyond Aaron Proctor's was the home 
of Captain Thomas Proctor. His father, Cyrus 
Proctor, lived there before him, and he was a 
man of much decision of character. He had a 
habit of profanity firmly fixed upon him before 
his conversion at the time of the great revival 
in 1801. This so changed his whole life that 
no one after that ever heard a profane word 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I39 

pass his lips. Such is the power of religion! 
He had a family of fourteen children, healthy 
and vigorous. One son received a college edu- 
cation, and settled in Rockport, Indiana. The 
education of the other children was more lim- 
ited, amounting to but eight weeks's chooling 
in the winter, with hard work in the summer. 
Captain Thomas was a man of good natural 
ability, and a kind neighbor; but he was like 
an unhewn block of granite, lacking only edu- 
cation and culture to have made a leading man. 
Several of the daughters of Cyrus Proctor set- 
tled on the hill. 

Farther to the west lived Nathaniel Proctor, 
a mild and quiet man, and a great worker. 
His son Moses, was older than myself, though 
in school with me. He was a fine scholar and 
early began teaching. He became a merchant 
in Hollis, and afterwards in Charlestown, Mass. 
Later, he lived on a farm in Milford, where he 
died. Ira, a younger son, remained on the 
home farm throughout his life. 

Of the large Austin family, I have known 
the history of Page Austin, only. He left 
Hollis in 1834, and settled on a farm in Oak^ 



140 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

ham, Mass., where hehasbeen highly respected, 
and has held several prominent town offices. 

Every Sabbath morning in good weather, the 
dwellers on Proctor Hill might have been seen 
passing the lane leading to my father's house. 
There would be from ten to twenty or more 
persons, women as well as men and children, on 
their way to church, on foot. In the early days 
of my remembrance there were no buggies or 
spring wagons on the hill. On warm days, 
men and boys walked with coats on their arms 
or with no coats at all. The distance from 
Nathaniel Proctor's or Mr. Austin's was no ob- 
stacle. When the Sabbath came people ex- 
pected to go to church as a matter of course. 
Even Capt. Thomas Proctor after he had a 
lame knee, walked the distance. This habit 
was the result of the training which the com- 
munity received under Pastors Emerson and 
Smith. 

I find that the Colburn farm on Colburn Hill 
was purchased and became the home of Nathan 
Colburn, Sr., in 1781. Here he resided until 
1822, managing the farm himself, until its bur- 
dens induced him to have his son Nathan re- 



MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I4I 

turn and take the farm, relieving him from care. 
I remember them as they were at that time. 
Nathan, Jr., brought to this home a wif-e and 
six children. Naturally, he at once took an 
interest in the school, and the children were 
my mates as long as Hollis was my home. 
Nathan Colburn, Jr., was a quiet, thoughtful 
man, who never aimed at display. I can see 
him now, standing with one eye closed, think- 
ing deeply. His judgment was good, and his 
influence always for the right. Deacon Enoch 
Jewett Colburn was born in this home, and if 
ever I saw him before he became a man, it was 
on the 17th day of February, 1831. On that 
day his grandfather died, and that night I spent 
at the house with Amos Farley, to watch the 
dead, as was the custom. 

It is one of the remembered items of family 
history, that on the next day when the vener- 
able grandfather may be said to have stepped 
into the grave to pass forever from human 
sight, the baby grandson, Enoch Jewett, stood 
upon his feet and took his first step alone. So 
it is ordered, "One generation goeth and an- 
other Cometh!" The family of Nathan Col- 



142 HOLI.IS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

burn, Jr., scattered as they grew to mature 
years, — one going to Tennessee, one to Ohio, 
one to Pennsylvania, and one, James, to the 
Sacramento valley, in California, where he now 
resides on a large farm; at least, Hollis people 
would think it so, for he owns and farms twenty- 
five hundred acres, and is one of California's 
financially strong men. Nathan Colburn, Jr., 
was gathered to his fathers in 1865, at the age 
of eighty years, I am glad that Deacon E. J. 
has "stayed by the stuff." He has remained 
on the old place which has been ip the family 
one hundred and ten years. He is a man with 
the characteristics of those who early settled 
the town; a man useful in the church and the 
community. As he goes about with his sur- 
veyor's compass and chain he gathers into his 
retentive memory a valuable store of historical 
facts and bits of interesting information, in 
which he takes special delight, and which help 
to make him an entertaining companion. His 
children are leaving his home. One is in the 
far west, in the state of Washington; another 
is in the Old Bay State. 

Nathan Colburn, Sr., is represented through 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 1 43 

six generations in the line of Erie and Lucinda, 
and by five generations through the line of 
James and Enoch Jewett, children of Nathan, 
Jr., all within my own lifetime and remem- 
brance. 

Stephen Lund's family is the last in this dis- 
trict of which I shall speak. A vision rises be- 
fore me of the old brown horse ploughing 
through the snow with the long sleigh, carry- 
ing Mr. Lund's children to school, so deter- 
mined was he that they should have an oppor- 
tunity for education. He had his reward. His 
daughters were always chosen first at spelling 
matches, and all his children were good scholars. 
Though somewhat eccentric, Mr. Lund was an 
upright and worthy man, with an especial scorn 
for anything approaching deceit. A story is 
told of him which illustrates his own uncompro- 
mising frankness. There came a time when he 
wished to secure a wife, and a mother for his 
children. Having selected a suitable person, he 
made his proposal somewhat after this style: 
'T am a widower, and I have nine children (just 
John Rogers' number). There is not a poorer 
house in town than mine. I am several hundred 



144 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

dollars in debt. My children are as ugly and un- 
ruly as children in general. My wife will be 
obliged to work hard and will enjoy few luxu- 
ries. Now will you marry nie?" Nothing 
daunted, the good lady said "Yes," and she 
made him an excellent wife. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 145 



XVI. 



As we set out upon our wanderings to-day, 
let us take our position in the northwest school 
district, near the residence of the late Captain 
Bailey. 

There was so much of the salt of real good- 
ness in this part of HoUis, that, as I think of 
one and another who lived there seventy years 
ago, and of their noble, pure and unselfish lives, 
my unworthy pen almost shrinks from the task, 
delightful though it is. Here was one of the 
strong outposts of the church; it was here that 
Mr. Smith held some of his most precious 
meetings. 

When we think of Captain Bailey, Deacon 
Philip Wood, Solomon Hardy and others 
worthy like them, it will not seem strange that 
the soul of young Eli Sawtelle was early fired 
to do good. His home was one of obscurity, 
his life, one of simplicity. He had been bound 
an apprentice to a shoemaker. At eighteen 
years of age, he bought his time for ninety dol- 



146 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

lars, for which he gave his note, payable when 
he should return to HoUis, a minister. Then 
he went out on foot and alone, with all his 
worldly possessions in a bundle under his arm, 
and just fourteen dollars in his pocket. But 
the great soul within him burned with a desire 
for education, and with a determination to 
preach the gospel. He made his way through 
the wilderness to Tennessee, commenced his 
thorough course of study and worked his way 
through college and a theological course. Ten 
years later, abont 1827, he returned to Hollis, 
Rev. Eli Sawtelle, the eloquent preacher. 
Among his first acts was the payment of his 
ninety dollar note. I well remember his ser- 
mons, so full of earnestness and pathos, and 
the revival that followed. He labored as an 
evangelist for a few years, and then settled in 
Kentucky. Not long after, he was called to 
take charge of the interests of the Seaman's 
Friend Society at Havre, France, where a Sea- 
man's Chapel was built and a church was or- 
ganized, of which he became pastor. The last 
few years of his working life were spent in Sar- 
atoga, where he organized and preached to a 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I47 

Congregational Church. Then the great doc- 
tor rested a little in his old age before he was 
taken home to his reward. A good and strong 
man came out from this little Nazareth. 

Nor was he the sole preacher of ability from 
this district. Solomon Hardy, Jr., was one; 
and another was Philip Wood, Jr., a noted Pres- 
byterian minister in East Tennessee. 

I acknowledge myself indebted to Mr. C. A, 
Wood, of Piqua, Ohio, for many of the items 
in this letter. He is the youngest son of the 
late Deacon Philip Wood, and, although he 
long ago made Ohio his home, has never lost 
his interest in his native town, where I met him 
in 1880. 

There were in this school district fourteen 
families whose children used to attend school 
in the old house in the sand bank, near the 
home of good old Captain Bailey. Two of his 
grand-children were in the school.. Ah! Cap- 
tain, you little knew of the lameness that 
awaited you in later life, so that a plank must 
be laid from your door-step to the wagon, on a 
Sabbath morning, and that strong men must, at 
the meeting-house door, lift your wagon from 



148 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

the fore-wheels and rest it on the church steps! 

Next on the road to Milford, lived Leonard 
Bailey, whose three children attended school. 

Beyond, lived Solomon Hardy, of "ox cart" 
fame. No Pharisee was more exact in his life 
than was this good man. His children in the 
school were Solomon, Page and Clarissa. On 
Sabbath mornings might have been seen Solo- 
mon and his family with oxen and cart, and his 
gentle voice might have been heard saying, 
"Go 'long. Buck and Berry," as he gave them 
softly a touch of the whip. 

From the home of Mr. Baldwin, farther on, 
Thomas and Rebecca attended school. Other 
children had finished their studies there. 

Next, on the Milford line. Deacon Philip 
Wood, whose farm comprised about two-thirds 
of the old town of Munspn. He was an Israelite 
indeed, in whom there was no guile. I never 
saw much ©f Mr. Wood, but I remember his 
countenance well, and I heard him speak a few 
times. His face, so full of genuine goodness 
and benevolence, could not be forgotten. He 
had a family of seven sons and one daughter; 
all have now passed away but the two youngest, 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 149 

William and Charles, who reside at Piqua, Ohio. 
The family of Deacon Wood has been repre- 
sented in eight different states, and there are 
now sixty of his descendants in Piqua. 

South of east, lived Captain Spaulding, an 
ardent Jackson Democrat, who had a big cele- 
bration on Jackson's first election in 1828, in- 
viting all his Federal neighbors to help him 
rejoice. He had several children in the school. 
I remember well the two elder sons. 

Next south was Josiah Hayden, who had a 
large family. His son Samuel at the age of 
thirty-five was one of the best specimens of 
manhood, both morally and physically, that 
Hollis has ever produced. He was one of the 
last tithing-men, this ofifice being abolished in 
1850. To do this family justice would take 
many pages, but I will simply add that the old 
home is now owned by Daniel W. and David N., 
sons of Captain Hayden. The house is in good 
condition; the large living room is just the same 
as when Susan did the spinning, and Lydia the 
weaving; and there, too, is the same fire-place 
where their mother cooked those good dinners. 
The Hayden Brothers, on removing the old 



150 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

mill dam on Bailey Brook, which was replaced 
by the present stone dam, found the hemlock 
boughs placed there seventy-five years before, 
as perfect as when first covered. 

South, toward Long Pond Hill, resided Cap- 
tain Jonathan Taylor Wheeler, one of the first 
men of Hollis to advocate temperance. Cap- 
tain Wheeler's father and mother resided with 
him and lived to a great age — the mother to 
over one hundred and three years. Captain 
Wheeler was the Vanderbilt of this district, 
and always had a hundred dollars to loan his 
poorer neighbor, taking in payment almost 
anything offered. Six of his children were in 
school, I intend to speak further of Captain 
Wheeler as an agriculturist in another place. 

On the side hill toward the south dwelt Amos 
Hardy, one of the seven sons of Jesse Hardy, 
who had taken for his wife one of Thomas Cum- 
mings' comely daughters, and whose seven 
children were all sons but one. I wish I knew 
more of the history of these children, having 
known their parents so well. Mr. Hardy had 
two especial sources of pride: he was proud of 
his family, and next to them he was proud of 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I5I 

his fine oxen. Respecting the last his motto 
was, "Feed well and work well." 

The first house on Willoughby Hill was that 
of Captain Sawtelle, who had five children in 
the school. 

On this hill lived Oliver Willoughby, who 
sent three children to school. 

Next south we find that Revolutionary hero, 
Enoch Jewett, who used to tell the boys won- 
drous tales of the British and Hessians. He 
entered the army at the age of seventeen or 
eighteen years, beginning army life at the bat- 
tle of Bunker Hill, and continued in the service 
six years and seven months. At Saratoga he 
said he went into battle with an old shot-gun, 
but as the enemy retreated, he saw a dead 
Hessian with a fine gun lying beside him and 
took the opportunity to trade even with him. 
Then he would proudly show the very weapon. 

East of Willoughby hill was Lewis Wood, 
who had one daughter, Mercy, and six sons. 

Northeast, lived Oliver Willoughby, Jr., with 
a fine family well cared for. Mr. Wood tells 
me he had a peculiar fancy for trying to make 
people think he was puor, and could get more 



152 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

fun out of a crowd than any man living, as he 
looked the picture ot dejection. His six chil- 
dren were all in the school. 

Nearly all the persons I have named might 
have been seen every Sabbath at church, for 
the forenoon and afternoon service. Where 
are they novv? Most of them have followed 
their old pastor over the river. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 1 53 



XYII 



My recollections of the people in the Patch 
Corner district are quite distinct, but in occa- 
sional instances my friend, Charles A. Wood, 
has supplied a missing link. I feel sure that, 
as we stroll about this portion of the old town, 
tender recollections will be brought to the 
minds of some of the descendants of those who 
lived there seventy years ago. Possibly some- 
thing in it may be preserved, and become his- 
tory in the years to come. 

Taking the right hand road at the Corner, I 
soon reach the home of Thaddeus Wheeler. 
He was then about fifty years old,— a staid, 
thoughtful, well-to-do farmer. There were six 
children in this home. 

A little farther on lived Winkel Wright, a 
brother of Captain J. T. Wright. He had a 
saw and grist mill at the pond, the water of 
which came from a little brook running from 
Long Pond. In my boyhood days I often 
went to this pond in summer, especially on Sat- 



154 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

urday afternoons, to gather the beautiful pond 
lilies that grew so abundantly there, and my 
hands were filled with these fragrant blossoms 
when I went to church next day. This pond 
was a favorite bathing place, and many came 
there for this purpose on Saturdays after the 
week's hard work. I remember how the town 
was shocked when the news came that Uriah 
Reed had sunk beneath these waters while 
bathing. When the body was found, the spirit 
had departed. He was a man past middle age, 
and left a wife and children. 

Winkel Wright was a quiet man, more retir- 
ing than his brother. He had one daughter. 
He dressed in the old style, and always wore a 
cue. Mr. C. A. Wood writes me that his was 
the only cue he had ever seen, excepting on a 
Chinaman. Oh! Charles, Charles! you lost 
much by not being born sooner. You must 
remember you were but seventy-two years of 
age last month, while I saw the light seven 
years earlier, when cues were in the height of 
fashion, and every old man had one. If I had 
you at my own fireside, Charlie, I would tell 
you a story. As I may not see you soon, I will 



MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 1 55 

write it out for your benefit (others not inter- 
ested may pass it by without reading). Our 
old square pew in the church was in the north 
end on the center aisle, just back of the old 
men's long seat. Here, on Sundays, used to 
sit a row of the old men of the town, perhaps 
ten or fifteen of them, each having a cue 
neatly bound with ribbon hanging down his 
back. As I sat there in meeting (before you 
were born, Charlie), good Mr. Smith giving us 
one of his Calvanistic sermons, that I could not 
understand any better then than I could now, 
the temptation to play with those cues was a 
strong one. I was having a fine time jerking 
them as I would a bridle-rein, when one of the 
men turned around and looked at me with his 
awful eyes, and I immediately subsided and 
did not again play horse in meeting. 

Next on the road lived Mr. Minot Wheeler, 
a millwright by trade, with an interesting fam- 
ily consisting of his wife and seven sons. 

At the next house resided Mr. Daniel Farley, 
his wife and two daughters. 

Major James Wheeler, with his wife, two sons 
and three daughters, lived in the last house on 



156 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

this road. He was an active, vigorous man. I 
am told that the youngest son still lives on the 
place. All these families I have named were 
regular attendants at church. 

I now return to the Corner and take the Am- 
herst road. 

The first house from the corner on the Am- 
herst road was known as the Kendrick house. 
Silas French lived there seventy years ago. 
He became deranged and was sent to the In- 
sane Asylum at Concord. This house has a sad 
history. I have no wish to go into particulars, 
but some of those who resided there were so 
bereft of reason that they were not responsible 
for the dreadful acts perpetrated. One com- 
mitted suicide, another took the life of mother 
and sister; finally a fire swept the house from 
the earth, so that it could not longer be even a 
dumb witness to the deeds done within it. 

The next house was William Colburn's. He 
left six daughters and two sons. I am told that 
Edward is still the owner of the house which 
has been in the family since the settlement of 
Munson. On this farm tar and turpentine were 
then made, hundreds of pine trees being boxed 
to catch the pitch exuding from them. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 1 57 

The excellent Christian family of John Shedd 
occupied the next homestead. Mr. Shedd left 
a wife, a daughter and a son. On his farm 
near his barn stood the old house once inhab- 
ited by the noted Dr. Jones, "the Major's only 
son." The story of the eccentric doctor is 
given by Judge Worcester in his History, just 
as I had heard it many times from the people 
of Hollis. Dr. Jones was an educated, bright 
young man, but badly shattered, he said "for 
love." Had he lived in these days, he would 
have attracted much less attention than in the 
quiet of the last century. 

I cannot mention all the familiar names 
which crowd upon my memory, but certain 
ones scattered through the town I am unwil- 
ling to omit. 

Ebenezer Baldwin was one of my old acquain- 
tances in the Bailey school district where he 
was born. In 1831 he married a daughter of 
Captain Bailey and moved to the center of 
town, where he opened a jeweler's shop. He 
was one of those genial men whom it was ever 
a pleasure to meet, and a man of noble and 
worthy character. By nature he was gifted 



158 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

with a remarkable mechanical genius. The 
people of Hollis honored him with various of- 
fices of trust and responsibility. All his life 
Ebenezer Baldwin worked at clocks and 
watches, until the clock of Time struck his last 
hour. 

Prescott Hale, son of Dr. William Hale, and 
the only one of that large family who spent 
his life in Hollis, comes before my mind as he 
was when my teacher in the Beaver Brook 
school. He was highly esteemed by his fellow 
citizens as was shown by the town offices com- 
mitted to his trust. I saw him and his esti- 
mable wife in their home, in the Deacon Emer- 
son house, in 1850. 

In Worcester's History is found a faithful 
sketch of the life of James Parker, Jr., but 
knowing him as I did, J want to add a few 
words. In years he was younger than myself, 
but older in his development. When a mere 
boy, I used to see him assisting his uncle, Sam- 
uel Parker, in peddling, and at his auctions on 
training and muster days. I used to think 
James would be a spoiled boy, but he did not 
spoil at all. I can hardly tell when he took 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I 59 

time for his education, for he early engaged in 
business. I saw him in Nashua connected with 
a stage line, then in Worcester as stage agent 
while he was in his teens. I went west and 
lost sight of him for a time. On my return, in 
1849, I found him the gentlemanly conductor 
running from Springfield to Worcester. From 
that time I saw James Parker, Jr., nearly every 
year. He was a remarkable and a marked 
man, prompt in business, dignified yet affable. 
I used to have many pleasant talks with him, 
as I passed over the road. Mr. Parker ran his 
trains with promptness and caution. Trains 
were not run by telegraph then, but by a sys- 
tem of waiting a specified time at given points, 
after which the train had the right of way. On 
one occasion, when Mr. Parker had a large dele- 
gation of ministers on board, he was obliged 
to wait on a side track so long as to greatly 
annoy the divines who desired to attend the 
Association to be held further on. The con- 
ductor was urged to go forward, but, though 
some hard words were used, he still waited, 
standing on the ground, watch in hand, calm, 
dignified, and as unmoved as Grant before 



l60 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

Richmond. Suddenly, on came a train at full 
speed. Then were seen changed faces among 
the passengers. One said, "Let us kneel and 
thank God for our preservation." Mr. Parker 
was made the recipient of a token for his faith- 
fulness. 

Mr. Johnson and his wife, that estimable 
couple living on Pine Hill, were well toward 
the "Sunset Land" when I first knew them. I 
have named two of their daughters, Mrs. Patch 
and Mrs. Hardy. There were two sons; Noah, 
the elder, remained at the old home; Edward, 
went as a missionary to the Sandwich Islands. 

Toward the south, lived Jesse Hardy and 
Miles Wright with their families. 

Near by, was good Dea. Thomas Farley, 
whose son Asa was once my teacher in Beaver 
Brook school, and who married Sybil Holt and 
removed to Michigan. Thomas, Jr., had high 
hopes of doing good in the world, but had just 
graduated from college when he died. 

South of Esquire Pool's were the several fam- 
ilies of Dows, Moses Boynton, Ezekiel Bradley 
and Capt. Nathaniel Jewett. 

At Fog End, near Capt. Flagg's, lived Mr. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. l6l 

Daniel Smith and family, Mr. Smith was then 
up to full middle life. 

Bradley Colburn was young and ambitious, 
having high aims in life, but was cut dawn in 
early manhood. 

The venerable John Colburn and his wife are 
still living, though past fourscore years. 



l62 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 



XVIII 



It was seventy-two years ago last winter since 
I first knew William S. Bradbury. Having lost 
his father while still young, he was bound as an 
apprentice to Capt. Page Farley, according to 
the custom of the times. But before he was 
twenty he bought his time of his master, and 
by his own perseverance and industry fitted 
himself for teaching. It was my good fortune 
to be one of his pupils in the Beaver Brook 
school, in 1820 and 1821. The young man was 
not born into the most helpful surroundings, 
but a laudable ambition to achieve a worthy 
and noble manhood early inspired his heart. 
The time came to him as to others, when he 
wished to take unto himself a wife. All his 
aspirations were upward, and his affections fol- 
lowed the same course. He had fixed his eye, 
with modest diffidence, but with manly courage 
likewise, upon an estimable young lady belong- 
ing to one of the best and most aristocratic 
of HoUis families. The widow of the second 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 163 

Daniel Emerson, as mentioned in a former let- 
ter, found it necessary, after her husband's 
death, to eke out her slender income by keep- 
ing a little shop — not lowering thereby her 
standing and dignity in the eyes of her neigh- 
bors. Her fair daughter, Eliza, was the magnet 
toward which the heart of young William 
turned. We can easily fancy that the youth 
discovered almost daily needs which could be 
satisfied only from the widow Emerson's stock 
of goods. Doubtless Eliza often acted as her 
mother's clerk, and, by lucky chance, the woo- 
ing sped apace, as the young people demurely 
discussed bargains across the little counter. 
Mothers have sharp eyes, and it could not have 
been long before Mrs. Emerson's suspicions 
were aroused. Perhaps she questioned her 
daughter, hoping to find her fears were ground- 
less. "Eliza, did William Bradbury buy any- 
thing when he was in the store so long last 
evening?" "No, mother, but he looked at 
goods which he expects to need soon." "And 
the day before, when he leaned yet longer over 
the counter, what was he seeking then, my 
daughter?" "He bought a paper of pins, 



164 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

mother, and looked at some buttons, for he had 
lost one from his coat." But the deepened 
flush on Eliza's cheeks could only have con- 
firmed the mother's fears, and we may be sure 
that the day came when the widow said with 
emphasis, "This will not do, my daughter; Wil- 
liam Bradbury is no fit mate for you, the child 
of the Rev. Daniel Emerson, descendant of a 
line of eminent ministers and deacons. Your 
mother, too, has famous blood in her veins. 
Esther Frothingham was proud of her name, 
even before it become Emerson. You know 
child, that your grandfather was Major Froth- 
ingham, of Charlestown, Mass., who served 
throughout the Revolutionary War, and then 
entered the honorable ranks of the Cincinnati, 
and who was the only man honored by a call 
from General Washington on his last visit to 
Charlestown. What has William Bradbury to 
offer to a maiden of such ancestry?" The spirit 
of her revolutionary grandfather must have 
blazed from Eliza's eyes as she answered 
proudly, "He is an honest and worthy man, 
mother. He has strong arms and industrious 
habits. His character is above reproach. His 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 165 

heart is generous and noble; his judgment is 
good, and his mind is fairly well educated. He 
is quite my equal. What are my dead grand- 
fathers to me, beside this bright, eager, living 
man, full of aspirations for what is best and 
truest in life, and longing to devote all that 
he has and is to me? I know that he loves me, 
and when he asks me, I will marry him, though 
I were forty times an Emerson and a Frothing- 
ham." All this is supposed lo have taken place 
in the northeast room of the present parsonage. 
We may well believe that the wise mother said 
no more in opposition. Perhaps she found 
consolation as she thought of cases she had 
known or read, where men of distinction had 
risen from obscure families. No doubt she 
knew something of Mr. Lyman Beecher, the 
greatest preacher in New England at that time, 
who had just come to Boston with his large 
family of bright, little Beechers. His ancestors 
were only plain farmers on one of the poorest, 
little farms in Connecticut. 1 hope she recalled 
the story of young John Adams and Abigail 
Smith, and the objection of worthy Pastor Smith, 
of Braintree, Mass., to the marriage of his 



l66 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

daughter, because her suitor could not boast as 
eminent an ancestry as could his high-spirited 
Abigail. If she did remember the tale, she 
perhaps reflected that to stand at the head of a 
long line of distinguished men might be as 
honorable as to stand at the foot; and if John 
Adams was a "nobody" when he married 
Abigail Smith, he is known to after generations 
as President of the United States, and ancestor 
of a long and illustrious line. 

It was on the i8th of October, 1824, that 
William S. Bradbury married Eliza 'Emerson, 
and soon after left Hollis to make a home in 
Westminster, Mass. They began life in a mod- 
est, quiet way, but not many years had passed 
before William Bradbury was known as one of 
the leading men of the town. In 1844 he was 
honored with a seat in the State Legislature. 
He became a recognized authority upon ques- 
tions of law, was trial justice for his district, 
and settled many estates. For years he was 
an honored deacori in the Congregational 
church. 

One of his sons, William F. Bradbury, found 
employment in Edward Emerson's store and 



MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 167 

post-office in Hollis, from 1844 to 1849. ^e 
afterwards was fitted for college, and, with his 
brother, Edward E. Bradbury, entered Annherst 
in 1852. Having worked their way through 
college, the brothers graduated in 1856, carry- 
ing with them the highest honors of the class, 
William being valedictorian and Edward the 
salutatorian. Can you find me another like 
instance? Do you remember the ready and 
witty toast-master at the Hollis celebration in 
1880? William F. Bradbury is the man. Go 
to Cambridge, and you will find the same tal- 
ented gentleman as Head Master of the pros- 
perous Cambridge Latin School, under the very 
shadow of Harvard University. Many who 
have no personal acquaintance with the teacher 
and the scholar, know him as the successful 
author of a long series of mathematical text- 
books, and of various published articles of edu- 
cational value. An ingenious piece of appa- 
ratus for illustrating the simplicity of the met- 
ric system, which is extensively used by teach- 
ers, is the fruit of his inventive genius. Mr. 
Bradbury has held many offices of honor and 
distinction in the educational world, and that 



l68 MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

he is a man of public spirit, with interests 
broader than his own profession, is shown by 
his having served as a member of the Common 
Council in his city. 

One daughter of William Bradbury and Eliza 
Emerson, Esther Caroline Bradbury, occupies 
a prominent position as the honored wife of 
the Rev. T. K. Noble, pastor of the Congrega- 
tional church in Norwalk, Conn. 

Her brother, Edward E. Bradbury, has spent 
most of his life since his graduation from col- 
lege, in teaching, first at Greenfield, then at 
Ware, Mass. Alterwards he bouglit a part of 
the Greenleaf Female Institute in Brooklyn, N. 
Y. Being now in declining health, he has 
abandoned teaching, and is engaged in mer- 
chandise in Providence, R. I. 

I have learned something of the next genera- 
tion. William F. Bradbury has three children. 
The eldest, a son, has been graduated from 
Harvard College, is married, and is settled in 
business in Cambridge. The eldest of the two 
daughters is a graduate of Smith College, and 
had taught for several years in the Cambridge 
Latin School before her marriage last autumn. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 169 

The youngest daughter is still a pupil in the 
Latin School. 

Edward E. Bradbury has also three children. 
The eldest, a daughter, is an artist, skilled in 
drawing and painting. The second is a gradu- 
ate of Smith College, and a successful teacher 
in the High School of Washington, D. C. The 
youngest is a son, now in the office of the City 
Engineer in Providence, R. I. 

I have even heard of one representative of a 
later generation still. It is a bright little boy, 
now four years old, a grandson of William. F, 
Bradbury. He has not yet distinguished him- 
self before the world, but we have every reason 
to expect that he will do so in good time. 

From this brief presentation of four genera- 
tions of this interesting family, I leave it to my 
readers to judge whether or no the blood of the 
Emersons and the Frothinghams has deterior- 
ated by its mixture with that of Bradbury. 



170 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 



XIX 



On the occasion of my visit to Hollis in the 
summer of 1890, I was obliged to spend an hour 
or more at the modest little depot, waiting for 
the conveyance in which my journey to the 
home of my ancestors was to be completed. 
A few others were already in the waiting room, 
and when at last our vehicle was ready, I found 
myself seated beside one of these — a fine look- 
ing lady of elegant bearing and much intelli- 
gence, as I had already learned from the con- 
versation which I had overheard between her- 
self and another of the waiting travelers. She 
requested our driver to leave her at the home 
of Mr. George H. Blood, on the south side of 
the town. Then, turning to me with the 
thoughtfulness of a true lady, she gracefully 
expressed her regret that I should be forced to 
take a longer ride on her account. This opened 
the way for what was, to me, a most pleasant 
and interesting conversation, I learned that 
my companion was Miss Mary A. Blood, a 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I7I 

member of one of the old Hollis families, and 
now a teacher of elocution and oratory. The 
gentleman with whom she had been convers- 
ing in the depot, was Professor George Saun- 
derson, of the State University of Indiana, an- 
other of the children of Hollis of whom she 
has reason to feel proud. 

The farm whither Miss Blood was bound is 
now occupied by her brother, but seventy years 
ago it was the home of Ebenezer Blood, a kind- 
hearted man, a good neighbor, and possessed 
of much energy of character. He was noted 
for his blunt and original manner of speaking, 
a trait noticeable in his descendants to this 
day. In the latter part of his life he was afflicted 
with blindness, a trial which he endured with 
exemplary patience. He was the father often 
children, only two of whom are now living. 
They are Dr. Josiah Blood, of Ashby, Mass., 
and Miss Elizabeth A. Blood, of Hollis. This 
farm of Ebenezer Blood is in the extreme 
southern part of Hollis, on a cross road which 
connects the two main roads running from 
Hollis to Pepperell. The house which was to 
be seen on the farm in the days of Ebenezer 



1/2 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

Blood, has been repaired and is still in use. A 
son, Luke, remained at home with his parents 
and built the new barn after the old one was 
burned. Isaac, another son, bought the William 
Reed farm, near his father's, and married a 
daughter of Walter Fisk, of Pepperell. It is 
forty-nine years since they settled on ihat little 
farm where they reared their five children, all 
willing and fitted to lend a helping hand on the 
journey of life. The father died suddenly from 
an accident, about twelve years ago. Only one 
of the children remains in Hollis, the Geo. H. 
Blood mentioned above. He is a prosperous 
farmer, and now owns the farms of both his 
father and his grandfather. His brother, Chas. 
W., has a large farm in Lunenburg, Mass. 
Miss Mary A., the second daughter, studied 
elocution at the Emerson College of Oratory, 
in Boston, where she remained, as first assist- 
ant teacher, for several years. She was then 
called to the Iowa Agricultural College, where 
she spent two successful years as teacher of 
elocution. When I met her in Hollis she had 
much that was interesting to tell me of her ex- 
periences there, for I had recently closed a 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 1 73 

pleasant term of several years' service as a 
trustee of the College. Miss Blood told me at 
that time, something of her plans for opening 
a school of oratory in Chicago, and it has been 
*a pleasure to me to know of the distinguished 
success which has been hers in that venture. 
The "Columbia School of Oratory," of which 
Miss Blood is Principal, and Mrs. Ida M. Riley 
the Associate Principal, with three assistant 
teachers, is now to be found at 24, East Adams 
St., Chicago. It is thoroughly established and 
in a most prosperous and promising condition. 
The accomplished lady at the head is winning 
unstinted praise from all quarters, not only for 
her own gifts and attainments in elocution and 
oratory, but also, and especially, for her remark- 
able skill as a teacher. Several of the larger 
institutions and important gatherings in the 
different western states have called upon her 
for addresses and entertainments, and she is 
rapidly becoming known as one of the most 
talented women of the West. I have called her 
dilady'y she is also a z£;d?wrt:« of dignity and power. 
To me, it is more to be a true zvoinan, than to 
be merely a lady. The word has found more 



1/4 MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

and more favor in these later years, as women 
have taken more prominent positions before 
the world and have acquitted themselves with 
honor. During all my life in Hollis I never 
once heard a woman speak or pray in public. 
Now she may occupy pulpit a.nd rostrum and 
t^ke her full share in the public work of the 
world — save in politics. 

Not all the g-ood Blood in the family is to be 
found in these already mentioned. Miss Mary 
has a sister, Hattie M. Blood, who is at present 
a teacher of elocution in the Wesleyan Univer- 
sity at Lincoln, Nebraska. She has proved 
herself a most successful teacher, and likewise 
a woman of whom her native town may well 
be proud. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 1/5 



There come to my mind the names of oth- 
ers, children and grand-children of the Hollis 
residents of seventy years ago, who are now 
settled in Chicago, or within a radius of two or 
three hundred miles from that center. Of 
some of these I wish to speak. In all of them 
I take a deep and almost fatherly interest. I 
love to know the history of their successes, and 
in all that is elevating and good in their careers, 

I rejoice. 

Professor George William Saunderson fills 
the chair of Rhetoric and Oratory in the Indi- 
ana State University, at Bloomington. He 
will be remembered as the son of the late Wil- 
liam P. and Hannah Marshall Saunderson. 
Having graduated from Dartmouth College in 
1877, he fitted himself by special study for the 
line of work in which he is now engaged. I 
learn that he is an accomplished gentleman 
and a successful teacher. 

Miss Laura Saunderson, sister of the profes* 



176 HOLLIS SEVENTY YE^RS AGO. 

sor, became the honored wife of the Rev. Frank 
B. Hines, who is now preaching in Southern 
Illinois. He is a talented young man, and is 
accomplishing much good in his ministry. I 
doubt not he is ably seconded and asristed by 
the good Hollis lady who is his helpmeet. 
Two little olive branches gather with them 
about their table, making the fourth generation 
from Jonathan Saunderson, the first of the line 
in my recollection. 

Should I pass up Dearborn street, in Chicago, 
I should call at No. 107, there to find Edwin A. 
Burge, real estate dealer. His residence is at 
Evanston, that beautiful Chicago suburb, and 
his two sisters, Miss Martha and Miss Abbie, 
have their home with him. A brother, Charles 
H. Burge, is a dealer in real estate in Topeka, 
Kansas. All these are children of my old 
friend, the late Cyrus Burge. 

It was in 1868 that George W. Perkins, son 
of worthy Deacon Perkins, who spent his last 
years in Hollis, led the way to the new county 
of Fremont, in south-western Iowa, and settled 
in Farragut. Land was cheap then, and the 
seven or eight hundred acres which George 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I']'] 

bought, and which he has diligently improved 
and developed, have so advanced in value that 
he has no need to fear the poor-house. Mr. 
Perkins has been honored by his district, dur- 
ing the last four years, with a seat in the State 
Senate, where his voice and vote have been for 
temperance and the right, and he has now been 
elected one of the three Railroad Commis- 
sioners for the state. At home he is a leader 
in church and society, and everywhere he is a 
useful and popular man. 

"Sam" Perkins, a nephew of Senator George, 
soon followed his uncle westward and bought 
a small tract of land near him, which he has 
converted by his industry into a good farm. 
He took unto himself a wife, and in less than 
twenty years he found the land too strait for 
him, for he was the parent of ten living chil- 
dren. Having disposed of his Iowa farm for 
about $10,000, "Sam" started once more toward 
the setting sun, where land is still cheap and 
the population not yet too dense. 

In our beautiful Hazelwood Cemetery at 
Grinnell, quietly rests the remains of Mrs. Mary 
B. Day, the honored wife of the late Rev. Pliny 



178 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

B. Day, D. D., a former pastor of the Hollis 
church. Of her busy, useful life during her 
husband's pastorate in Hollis, I do not need 
to speak. Her good works in and for town and 
church, and especially her abundant labors for 
the suffering soldiers of our civil war, are surely 
well remembered there. At the death of Dr. 
Day, Mrs. Day, after a brief stay at Derry, N. H., 
removed to Grinnell. Here she naturally and 
quite as a matter of course, took up her accus- 
tomed kindly works of beneficence and love. 
But she was in failing health. "The spirit was 
willing, but the flesh was weak." A heavy 
sorrow came upon her. Her eldest son, Charles, 
had graduated from college and from Law 
School. A noble and most promising young 
man, he was suddenly cut down by the hand of 
death. The stroke was too much for the en- 
feebled mother. Friends trembled for her lest 
reason should be dethroned. She was unnat- 
urally calm; her grief was too deep for tears. 
Rallying somewhat, she lived for a few years, 
tenderly cared for by her sister, Mrs. J. B. 
Grinnell, and a faithful cousin, Miss Mary Lom- 
bard, whose presence is always as that of an 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. ! 79 

angel of mercy. Then the slender tie which 
bound the beautiful, chastened spirit to the frail 
body, snapped, and western friends laid the 
forsaken tenement of clay beside that of her 
beloved son. Another member of the little 
family has since entered the spirit land. 
Albert, or "Bertie" Day came west with his 
mother, when only two years old, and spent his 
childhood and early manhood in Grinnell. 
"He was," said Dr. Sturtevant, his pastor, who 
knew him well, "one of the purest minded and 
most noble boys I ever knew." He went back 
to New England for his college education, and, 
while a student at Dartmouth, died during a 
vacation, at the home of his sister, Mrs. 
Worcester, in Hollis. I am sure that Hollis 
friends watch tenderly over his early grave. 

Two of the sons of Dr. Day reside in Grin- 
nell. Henry, the elder, is one of those who 
heard and responded to their country's call, 
and served through the war of the rebellion. 
He has four children, now motherless. The 
two sons are in Grinnell, the two daughters are 
in Hollis. 

Edward occupies the Grinnell homestead. 



l80 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

He has married one of the bright, interesting 
daughters of the land — a New England girl, by 
the way, — and one little son, nine months old, 
makes music in their home. This latest scion 
of a worthy house, I regard as one of my par- 
ticular friends. He passes my house almost 
daily in his little cab, generally attended by 
one or both of his proud and happy parents. 
He tips the scales already at thirty-five pounds, 
and is a fine specimen o^healthy and contented 
babyhood. On "Children's Day" of 1892, I 
saw the baptismal hand placed upon the baby's 
brow as he was named Eugene Erastus. May 
the mantle of good Dr. Day fall upon the child I 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. i8E 



XXI 



Modesty must not forbid some mention of 
the several generations of m}- own family. 

The religious and political disturbances in 
England during the seventeenth century sent 
multitudes of the better class of English sub- 
jects to seek refuge in the new world. George 
Little of London, who came in 1640, was of the 
number. The original home of the family in 
America was Newbury, Mass., where many of 
its representatives are still to be tound, and 
where much of the property purchased by the 
first George Little still remains in the posses- 
sion of his descendants. The family is now 
widely distributed through the country. My 
own grand-father came from Newbury to New 
Salem, N. H., and afterwards settled in Goffs- 
town. From that town my father, Abner B. 
Little, came to Hollis, in 1813. 

In 1836, Abner B. and Nancy Tenney Little, 
his wife, left Hollis for Illinois, accompanied 
by all their children who had not preceded 



l82 MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

them westward. There were eleven, all told, 
who had enjoyed the advantages of Beaver 
Brook school, and sat in the old Hollis church 
under the ministrations of the Rev. Eli Smith 
and the Rev. David Perry. 

They settled near Kewanee*in Henry County, 
and the patriarchal father of the tribe cast the 
first vote in the township, and turned the first 
sod for the first garden. Mrs. Little's name is 
among those of the charter members of the 
first church organized in the town. Both have 
long since gone to their reward, having well 
fulfilled the part of New England pioneer.^- in 
subduing the wilderness and extending the 
borders of a Christian civilization. 

Of their children, Mary, the eldest, having 
been twice married, died childless in 1883, at 
the age of 80 years. Catharine, the widow of 
William Wheeler, is still active at eighty-seven 
years of age. She gave her only son to aid in 
putting down the Rebellion. Elizabeth, the 
wife of Capt. Sullivan Howard, left us only last 
March (1892), to join the husband with whom 
more than fifty happy years had been passed, 
and who had preceded her to the spirit land by 




/f^: 



'^U^^:£i-^ /uj-T^i/nftxi-pZ- 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEAR5 AGO. I83 

but a few short years. Their six surviving 
children are widely scattered, the eldest son 
being a prominent and well-to-do citizen of the 
state of Oregon; another son engaged in busi- 
ness in Aurora, 111., and their third son a law- 
yer, in Denver, Colorado. The eldest daughter, 
Mrs. Gridley, resides in Victor, la., but is a 
frequent visitor in Chicago, where her only 
child, Mrs. Charles VV. Kirk, has found a home. 
Mrs. Squires, the second daughter, is also a 
resident of the city of the Columbian Fair. 
She has one married daughter, and a son still 
at home. Mrs. C. W. Wells, of Minneapolis, is 
the youngest of the surviving children of Mrs. 
Howard. She is a graduate of Rockford Col- 
lege and a lady of many accomplishments. She 
has one young daughter. William, the next in 
order of age of the children of Abner B. Little, 
died in 1845, leaving four daughters. 

Caleb Jewett Tenney Little, the second son, 
still lives in Kewanee at the age of eighty-one. 
He has four living sons and three daughters. 
The eldest son, Charles, a physician, has long 
resided at Manhattan, Kas., in successful prac- 
tice. William, a prosperous lawyer, may be 



l84 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

found in the rising young city of Wichita, in the 
same state, while George and John, the one a 
physician, the other a dentist, have each a fine 
practicein the city of Burlington, la. The eldest 
daughter dwells on the broad acres of her hus- 
band, the Hon. Geo. W. Perkins, at Farragut, 
lovva. Another daughter is the wife of Dr. J. F. 
Todd, of Chicago; while the youngest, Mrs. 
Frank Reed, is the only child who remains 
near her parents. One daughter, the wife of 
the Rev. Mr. Giffin, was called from earth early 
in her happy married life, leaving one child, 
Lida, who is now the stay and comfort of her 
aged grand-parents, with whom she has long 
made her home. 

"H. G. L." dwells in Grinnell, Iowa. His 
wife and only son no longer walk this vale of 
tears, but fivedaughters remain, all but one resi- 
dents of Iowa. One is the wife of a farmer, 
whose large fields lie in two states; another is 
the wife of a college professor, and the next, 
the wife of a leading lawyer. The two younger 
daughters married physicians, one of whom 
resides in Battle Creek, Mich. The grand- 
children are Harry L. Viets, now in business in 




^ a^-i^i^^i-^Ujz, <A-^^^C£j^ 6-C--Cv^-^-^^ 




tyr%t,^u.,±-Zt/(^ ^yHi^ 




^m^x^ 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 1 85 

Ashland, Wis., and his sister Sara, who is still 
in school, Katharine Haworth Macy, Henry G. 
Lyman, Louise and Max Barrows Alvord, and 
Thomas Stoddard Holyoke, 

Ruth Channing Little, the widow of the Rev- 
erend Edwin H. Ncvin, D. D,, remains in Phila- 
delphia, where her husband died a few years 
ago. Of her large family, all have found east 
ern homes. One son is an editor, one a law- 
yer, and one a minister. The eldest of the 
four daughters, the wife of a Chaplain in the 
U. S. Navy, died many years ago in California; 
two of the others are married, and one still re- 
mains with her mother. 

Laura Anne Little, wife of Daniel McClure, 
died in 1852, leaving three sons, one of whom 
died in the army. The others are still living. 
Caroline Little, Mrs. Dr. Hurd, resides in 
Kewanee, Lll. Like Mrs. Wheeler, she gave 
her last surviving child at her country's call. 
"They gave their lives that the nation might 
live." 

Augustus, youngest of the sons of Abner B. 
Little, may be found upon the fine farm where 
his parents spent their western life. He, too. 



l86 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

is blest with a large family. Several of the 
children are still at home. One son is a den- 
tist in Kewanee; another, Walter A. Little, is 
a successful merchant in Grinnell, Iowa, and an 
active and efficient member of the City Council. 
One daughter is a teacher in the public school 
of the same place. 

Sarah Frances Little, the youngest member 
of the HoUis family and the widow of the Rev. 
Mr. Alvord and of Mr. Stewart, makes her 
home in Duluth, Minn., with her only living 
child, Mrs. Wallace Warner. 




^%. 







HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I87 

XXII. 



Industry and enterprise were characteristics 
of the men living seventy years ago in the 
Spaulding, or North School District. Only by 
the practice of those virtues could they thrive 
on that poor pine plain land, and many were 
obliged to eke out the meagre returns from the 
soil by turning their hands to coopering, mill- 
ing or trunk-making. 

I personally knew something of almost all 
the residents at that time, but, at my request, 
Mr. C. S. Spaulding has kindly given me addi- 
tional items and dates which I had not at hand. 

At the southwest corner of the district, on the 
main Milford and Amherst road, lived Ebene- 
zer Shedd and his wife, Elizabeth Duncklee, 
who were married August 5, 1817. They made 
a happy Christian home for their four children. 
Mr. Shedd was a man held in high esteem. He 
was a faithful Sunday school teacher and a 
good, reliable man. Sixty-five years ago, he 
was captain of a state infantry company. He 



l88 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

died in March, 1832, aged only thirty-six years. 

His neighbor, Isaac Cobbett, owned and 
managed a carding and fulling mill for the sup- 
port of his large family. He was extremely 
strict in his business matters, and was wont to 
start out on the first of every January, with his 
account book under his arm, to collect his bills. 
In The Farmer s Cabinet of Dec. 20, 1819, may 
be found the following: "Notice. — The sub- 
scriber desires to give notice that if those who 
are indebted to him (or me) do not on or 
before the first day of January, 1820, call and 
settle their bills, their accounts will be left in 
the hands of an attorney for collection, 

Isaac Cobbett." 

The next family north, in Witch Brook, was 
that of Benjamin Farley, Jr. He had married 
Anna Merrill, and eight children were given 
them, the two youngest of whom died, about 
1818, of the spotted fever which raged along 
the Witch Brook valley. Mr. Farley's reputa- 
tion for industry, and especially for early rising, 
was such that his neighbors used to accuse him 
of sitting up all night at his work. 

The six surviving children of Benjamin Far- 




vSakah Farley Runxklls. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. iSg 

ley all married and lived in or near HoUis, sev- 
eral being prominent in town and church affairs. 

This was also the home of the son, Enoch 
Farley, who married Abigail Hardy and settled 
here about 1822. Of the eight children born 
to them only four survived their infancy. 

Mr. Farley was a genial man and noted for 
his fondness for a joke. He had an excellent 
memory, was a great reader, especially of the 
Bible, with which he was quite familiar, and 
was fond of discussing theology with his friends 
and particularly with the Rev. Humphrey 
Moore, who was his pastor for many years, and 
who often confessed himself puzzled for a reply 
to Mr. Farley's arguments. 

One of Enoch Farley's daughters, Mrs. Sarah 
Farley Runnells, of Nashua, has long been 
known among the leading women of New 
Hampshire. She has been identified with vari- 
ous public and private charities, and has kept 
abreast with the times in all matters of social, 
literary and educational interest. At the pres- 
ent time she holds the state ofifice of the Wom- 
an's Relief Corps, and has recently organized a 
Corps at Hollis. She has two daughters, edu- 



190 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

cated at Wellesley, and one son, a graduate of 
Dartmouth. 

William Kittredge, better known as "Uncle 
Bill," occupied the next homestead. His wife 
was Mary Spaulding, whom he married in 1796. 
It is said that he went bare-footed to his court- 
ing, and wearing his leather apron. Of his 
seven children, only two lived to grow up. 

Near by, lived Hezekiah Kendall, of Kendall 
mills celebrity. He was three times married, 
and had six children. One of his sons served 
in the war of 1812. Mr. Kendall was a man of 
weight in more senses than one. It was a ques- 
tion between him and our shoemaker, Mr. 
Avery, as to which could tip the scales to the 
highest notch. The weight of his influence 
was especially felt in town meeting. Being a 
man of positive character and good judgment, 
his fellow-citizens always listened with defer- 
ence to the expression of his opinion. Bring- 
ing down his right hand with a sharp snap of 
the tliumb, which could be heard all over the 
old meeting house (where town meeting was 
always held), he would commence his speech 
with the characteristic expletive, "I vum!" An, 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I9I 

extract from his speech made on a certain oc- 
casion, when the matter under consideration 
was the repair of Runnells bridge, has been 
sent me. **! vum," he began, "you are forever- 
lastingly quarreling over that Runnells bridge. 
You say the present is stronger than the old 
one, and you had to take powder to blow the 
old one out of the way. I wish the whole thing 
was sunk in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!" 
Mr. Kendall came to a tragic end; he was 
killed in 1833, by Rufus Orcutt, whom he had 
"dunned" for rent due, Orcutt being, accord- 
ing to the old-fashioned phrase, "in liquor" at 
the time. 

Asaph Spaulding was born August 2, 1782, 
on the place next northeast of Kendall's and 
where he spent his life. He was the grand- 
father of my correspondent, Mr. Charles S. 
Spaulding. Eight children were born to him 
and his wife, Abiah Bowers. Mr. Spaulding 
was a shrewd and a successful farmer, but his 
income was increased by the manufacture of 
rum barrels aud hogsheads, for, like most Hol- 
lis farmers, he had learned a trade at which he 
worked in the intervals of farm labor. He was 



192 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

also noted for his success in catching wild 
pigeons, and he had the first artificial fish pond 
in the region. On that poor pine plain he 
sometimes raised as many as one hundred 
bushels of rye. 

Next on the road was Leonard Combs, a 
trunk-maker. He married Lucinda Duncklee, 
but they had no children. 

Further on, stood the home of Mr. Benjamin 
Rogers and his wife, Lydia Sargent, with their 
four children. Mr. Rogers also manufactured 
trunks, which he covered with horse-hides with 
the hair on. 

Amos Fletcher occupied the next house. He 
married Abigail Towns. There were several 
of their children in school. Mr. Fletcher's 
farm has been in his family from the first set- 
tlement of the town. 

Captain Isaac Parker was Mr. Fletcher's near 
neighbor. He was an extensive farmer, and 
succeeded in getting large returns for his labor 
even from that poor soil. At one time during 
the War of 1812 he sold two hundred bushels of 
rye for two dollars and a quarter a bushel. The 
fine shining carriage in which he drove to meet- 



MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I93 

ing quite eclipsed all the other vehicles in 
town. He was a prosperous and influential 
man throughout his life. He had three chil- 
dren in school. His son John came to the cen- 
ter of town and captured Mary Ann Gould, one 
of the fairest of the daughters of Hollis. 

We come next to the home of Jeremiah K. 
Needham, a busy, hard-working man, who liked 
to see those around him busy also. He made 
more than the usual number of matrimonial 
ventures, marrying Olive Parks for his first wife, 
a Miss Whitney for his second, Mary Swallow 
for the third, and Widow Carlton, of Amherst, 
for the fourth. I have a list of the names of 
his ten children, but will not ask for space to 
insert it. 

South of the school-house, on the road over 
what is now known as MoOar's Hill, is the Dr. 
Jones or Zachariah Ober place, occupied for 
many years by Mr. John Sargent, who had two 
children in school. 

Gardner Mooar lived next beyond, at the 
Jonathan Foster place. His wife was a daugh- 
ter of Solomon Hardy. They had one son. 

Near Gardner Mooar's place and in the same 



194 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

district lived his brother John, who married 
Rebecca Abbott. They had four sons and 
one daughter. 

Nearly all these families named were regular 
attendants at the Hollis Church until the little 
church was organized at Hardscrabble, about 
1828. This unmusical name was given the new 
church by Mr. J. B. Holt, landlord at the lower 
tavern, who offered to make a contribution to 
the building on condition that he give a name 
to the place also. Hardscrabble it remained 
until the opening of the Wilton railroad, when 
the name was changed to South Merrimac. 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I95 



XXIII 



Thomas Cummings, who dwelt a little north 
of the center of town, was in many respects a 
typical New England man. Though thoroughly 
"matter-of-fact" in disposition, he had also a 
strong religious bent. There was no mirthful- 
ness in his composition, but there was nothing 
austere or repelling. To his earnest goodness, 
life seemed too serious and sacred for anything 
but active duty. Few men have ever made a 
stronger impression upon my mind, of genuine 
goodness and integrity. His stout, rather large, 
though not tall figure always seemed to me 
good all over. He followed the trade of shoe- 
making, but was also a small farmer, and for 
some years acted as sexton. He might usually 
be found at his shop, which stood east of his 
residence on the main road. The name I have 
given above was, no doubt, that by which the 
shoemaker was designated in the family Bible, 
and upon the church roll and in the town rec- 
ords; but throughout the town he was familiarly 



196 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

known as "Uncle Tom Thumper." I don't 
think there was anything of derision in the 
title; it was, in fact, a tribute to the faithful, 
honest work turned out from his little shop. 
The boots and shoes which he made were of 
the most substantial kind, not at all like the 
delicate, fancy article with paper soles and 
fragile uppers, fit only for ball room use; and 
if "Uncle Tom Thumper" told you the leather 
was oak tanned, you might be sure it ivas oak 
tanned. The wife and mother who presided 
over his home, was among the best in HoUis. 
The children were numerous, well trained, and 
an honor to their parents. John Bunyan gives 
his pilgrims, travelling from the City of De- 
struction to the Celestial City, names indicative 
of their characters, as Mr. Greatheart, Valiant 
for Truth, Timid, Mercy, Much Afraid, etc. I 
think if Thomas Cummings had been in the 
company, he would have called him "Thomas 
the Faithful and True." 

Mr. Cummings' near neighbor on the north, 
was Mr. Benjamin Messer, a good man, active 
and diligent in business, which was that of a 
carpenter. His wife was a sister of Nathan 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I97 

Holt. Their son, B. Edmund Messer, was but 
little older than myself, and my intimacy with 
him made me a familiar visitor at his father's 
house. He was a bright boy, with qualities of 
leadership amoncr the other boys and his popu- 
iarity did not depart as he grew to manhood. 
Early in the history of that city, he lived in 
Minneapolis where he held the office of sheriff . 
He may now be found in the District of Co- 
lumbia, well endowed with this world's g-oods, 
but still teaching singing, although nearly 
eighty years old. 

I have spoken of Deacon Hardy, who lived 
near Mr. Messer. His wife was a sister of Mr. 
Lund. Their children, I think, left Hollis in 
their early maturity. 

Ethan Willoughby was a carpenter and cab- 
inet maker. I well remember his four boys. 
Noah died about 1830. 

Coolidge Wheat was a marble-cutter living in 
the next house on the north, who made grave- 
stones for his fellow citizens. In spite of his 
rather melancholy occupation he had a taste 
for lighter things, as was shown by the dash of 
horse-jockey in his composition. 



198 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

Next beyond, in the days of my early recol- 
lection, was the home of John Boynton, whose 
wife was my aunt, a sister of R. E. Tenney. 
After his removal to VVestford, Mass., I think 
the house was occupied by Luther Hardy, who 
married Hannah Sawtell. 

At the head of Long Pond lived Phineas 
Hardy, honored as one of the soldiers of '"jd. 
He had many children; among them Dr. Noah 
Hardy was well known. Louis, another son, 
an active man and the owner of the old home, 
died very suddenly there about 1830. After- 
ward Moses Wood, who had married Phineas 
Hardy's daughter. Submit, resided there. 

James Farley dwelt at the foot of Long Pond 
Hill. I am told by Mr. C. A. Wood, of Piqua. 
Ohio, that he was an inventive genius and 
made valuable machines, which are still in use, 
for the finishing of staves and barrels. 

Passing the home of Thomas Patch, Jr., we 
come next to that of Captain Jonathan Taylor 
Wright. To him I should be inclined to de- 
vote an entire letter, were he not well remem- 
bered by many yet in Hollis. But even if I 
were to do so, I could not mention all his vir- 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. I99 

tues. What was it that made him a man trusted 
and honored by all? He was not brilliant nor 
learned, for his education was only that of the 
common school. He lacked both culture and 
polish, and there was nothing unusually attract- 
ive in his personal appearance. He was some- 
thing of a musician, and very fond of singing, 
but he had not a full, mellow, highly cultivated 
voice; in fact, there was in it somethfng of the 
proverbial Yankee nasal twang. But none of 
these defects could disguise the true simplicity, 
honesty, and sincerity of character, which made 
the man what he was, commanded the con- 
fidence and respect of all who knew him, and 
brought him forward often to fill places of re- 
sponsibility and honor in the town and in the 
State Legislature. I remember that at one 
time he owned a fine bay horse worth, at least, 
a hundred and twenty-five dollars. A man was 
talking of buying the horse, a-id I heard Mr. 
Wright say, "I have some reason to fear that 
my horse is diseased, and with that fully under- 
stood I would take twenty-five dollars for him." 
The purchaser took the horse at that price, and, 
having cured him of a little cold, found he had 



200 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO, 

a sound and very valuable animal. When John 
Woods was lost at sea, the heirs (one of whom 
was Mrs. James Parker) sent Captain Wright 
to New Bedford to settle the estate; not that 
he was the most skilled and competent of men 
for such business, but because they knew that 
the work would be done by him with the strict- 
est honesty. Mr. C. A. Wood writes me, "No 
truer man ever lived in Hollis than Captain 
Wright." When I married and began business 
for myself, he said to me, *'Take my advice 
and always be honest." Had Captain Wright 
been in John Bunyan's company, I think he 
would have dropped his title and part of his 
name and called him simply "Wright Honest." 

Mr. Thomas Patch lived in the house north 
of Capt. Wright's. I used to pity the old gen- 
tleman when I saw him teaming to and from 
Boston, carrying loads of barrels, after his legs 
were broken and he had become prematurely 
lame. In the same house lived Richard Patch, 
a stirring business man. 

Taylor Merrill, a school teacher, occupied 
the next dwelling, and Varnum Wheeler re- 
sided there later. 

At the corner beyond, Joseph Patch was al- 



MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 201 

ways to be found in his store, during all my 
Hollis life. What a good, quiet, honest man 
he was. He had taken to wife a Miss Johnson, 
from Pine Hill. 

James Parker was a good blacksmith, located 
at the corner, where he served the people in 
the north part of Hollis acceptably till his 
strong arm was forced to succumb to old age. 
I have been just a little criticised for my 
failure to confer the titles of honor properly 
belonging to them, upon some of those men- 
tioned in my letters. It has not been from 
any lack of respect, but I confess, I like direct- 
ness and simplicity in speaking to and of 
friends, and I might quote the distinguished 
example of some in the highest positions. Let 
me give one incident. Abraham Lincoln and 
Richard Yates had long practiced law together 
and were familiar friends. Later, when one 
" was President of the United States, and the 
other Governor of Illinois, and our civil war 
was wringing the hearts of the nation, the Gov- 
ernor telegraphed to the President, "Abe, you 
must go faster!" Back over the wires across 
the continent flashed the reply, "Hold on, Dick, 
and see the salvation of God." 



202 MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 



XXIV. 



The Hillsborough County Fair was an insti- 
tution of importance seventy years ago. The 
annual Fairs at Amherst were occasions of deep 
interest to the inhabitants of the county, and 
the people of Hollis were not behind others in 
enthusiasm. In the eyes of the small boys, 
the attractions of the Fair rivalled those of the 
annual "Muster," and for both their pennies 
were carefully hoarded to be laid out in ginger- 
bread and other joys of childhood, on those 
two happy days. 

The farmers of Hollis took a commendable 
interest in exhibiting their stock and the pro- 
ducts of their farms. I should say that in those 
early days Captain Jonathan Taylor Wheeler 
was the most prominent among Hollis exhibit- 
ors and took the most pride in his careful sys- 
tem of farming and the raising of fine animals 
for the annual show. I used to think he rode 
the most beautiful horse I had ever seen— a 
handsome dapple gray, always fat and well 



MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 203 

groomed. I understand now better than I did 
then, why ail his stock looked so much better 
than those of most of his neighbors. He was 
always gentle and kind with all his animals, 
and took special pride in their fine appearance. 
All were bountifully fed and well cared for. 
His oxen were generally closely matched, and 
trained with exactness to the word. The whole 
farm showed its owner's careful and intelligent 
care and the good judgment which guided all 
details. When this farm was entered with oth- 
ers at the Hillsborough County Fair, for pre- 
mium, it was a source of pride not only to the 
owner but also to HoUis people in general, to 
hear the announcement from the judges' stand 
on the Fair Grounds, that the first premium for 
the best managed farm in Hillsborough county, 
was awarded to Captain Jonathan T. Wheeler. 
I once, when a boy, made a visit to this farm, 
of which I had heard so much, and greatly ad- 
mired what I saw. There were strong, high 
fences about the barns and yards. The horses 
and colts, pigs, sheep, cows and oxen were all 
of the best sorts and in the best condition. Tied 
up in the barn was that beautiful, great, red 



204 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

bull, which, I was told, had once playfully 
tossed his owner into the watering-trough, when 
Captain Wheeler led his pet beauty out to 
drink. Gates and bars and all other farm con- 
veniences were in the best of order. 

If Hollis farmers prided themselves upon one 
thing more than another, it was upon their 
oxen. I used to listen with interest to much 
conversation respecting those useful beasts. 
The first question asked would be, "How much 
do they girth?" Six feet girth was small; 
seven feet, large. But the training the oxen 
received was to me marvellous, and the strength 
shown by the enormous loads they drew, pro- 
digious. It was of great interest to watch the 
contest between the oxen shown at the fair, as 
they tugged at the heavily loaded drag or stone- 
boat, in the test of strength. Among the offi- 
cers of the fair were Captain Wheeler, Samuel 
Hayden and other Hollis men, wearing the 
badges of distinction; and perhaps no town in 
the county was better represented on the ground 
than Hollis. There were many to wish Hollis 
oxen should win. Mr. C. A. Wood tells me 
that a yoke of oxen owned by a man named 



MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 205 

Sweet, of Bedford, took the first premium at 
the drag-pull, to the downfall of HoUis hopes. 
But, lo and behold! it came out that the win- 
ners were purchased only the previous spring 
of Deacon Philip Wood. So Hollis continued 
to plume herself upon her oxen; and I may 
add that, in respect to the display in other de- 
partments, she was not wont to be behind. 

Nothing at the fair drew more general atten- 
tion than the annual plowing match. One year 
the contest was between our townsman. Captain 
Wheeler, and a man whose name I cannot give. 
L. P. Hubbard, Esq., thus describes the match: 
"The plowing match was arranged for the af- 
ternoon. Two plots of ground were staked off 
exactly of a size. At the appointed hour the two 
contestants were seen approaching the grounds 
laid out. Captain Wheeler, of Hollis, as calm 
as though he was about to plow his cornfield at 
home, holding his plow and driving his oxen, 
was soon in position. The name of his com- 
petitor I do not remember, but I think he was 
a Milford man. He evidently understood his 
business; he took his position with a driver. 
All were now on tiptoe for the signal from the 



206 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

officers to start. We did not have to wait lone. 
Never had I seen furrows turned so rapidly, 
evenly and beautifully. The contest was a 
spirited one, but our townsman won the prize, 
and Hollis shared the honor." 

Besides the legitimate exhibitions there were 
the usual side-shows. I have a letter from Dea- 
con E. J. Colburn, a gentleman who, I venture 
to say, never forgets anything; at least I have 
found him to be a veritable walking encyclo- 
pedia, full of entertaining and valuable infor- 
mation. The letter referred to tells of the ex- 
hibition, on one occasion at the Fair, of a bully 
and a coward: 

"I have a very vivid recollection of hearing 
my father relate what occurred at Amherst, at 
one of the County Fairs. Father was in com- 
pany with a Mr. Ames (Burpee, I think), who 
was a man considerably advanced in life, rather 
a small-sized man, but very well kept. While 
engaged in looking articles over, a large, burly- 
looking man, about thirty years of age, with a 
large whip in his hand, came up and addressed 
Mr. Ames, asking if he was not Mr. Ames of 
Hollis. To which Mr. Ames replied that he 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 20/ 

was, when the man asked if he did not recog- 
nize him. Mr. Ames very affably replied that 
he did not. The man then inquired if he did 
not keep school one winter about fifteen years 
before, and if he did not remember giving a 
certain boy a good licking. Whereupon Mr. 
Ames replied that he did not recall the event, 
but had no doubt he was correct, as it was his 
custom to whip his boys when he thought they 
needed it. The young man then said he had 
always remembered it, and had promised him- 
self that if ever he got big enough and had an 
opportunity, he would thrash him. Now he 
had such a chance, and he was going to do it, 
then and there. Mr. Ames looked him in the 
eye and said calmly asd pleasantly, 'Are you 
in earnest? Do you mean it?' The reply was, 
*Yes, you will find out I mean it.' In an in- 
stant, Mr. Ames threw off his hat, coat and 
vest, and rolled up his shirt-sleeves; but before 
he had got ready, the young man sneaked 
away and was lost in the crowd." Mr. Burpee 
Ames must have been at that time, I think, 
well on toward seventy. Many will remember 
him as one of our respected citizens. He was 



208 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

the father of William Ames, Esq., and grand- 
father to Captain M. Nathan Ames. In those 
days the rod and the ferule were much more 
freely applied in school than at present, and it 
was not uncommon to hear a rude, ignorant 
boy of low instincts, mutter after a good thrash- 
ing in school, "I'll lick that master if ever I 
am big enough." Since Deacon Colburn's tale 
led us to this subject, I will venture to relate 
another story, similar to his, although it has no 
connection with the Hillsborough County Fair. 
Elderly people in Hollis and Brookline will 
never forget the Rev. Mr. Hill, who preached 
so many years in Mason. Though he was a 
man of small stature, he was great in ability, 
and was wont to preach -the longest sermons of 
any minister in the region. We used to hear 
him from the Hollis pulpit, for Mr. Smith ex- 
changed with him regularly once a year. Soon 
after his settlement at Mason, a man of the 
"Bully Brooks" order of humanity (my older 
readers will recognize this as the designation 
applied to a certain Southern coward, who 
struck down Charles Sumner in the Senate 
Chamber) met him and said abruptly, "Do 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 209 

you remember licking me once in school?" 
"I do," was the reply. "It was because I 
thought it for your good." "Well," said the 
bully, "I said then I would lick you when I was 
big enough, and I can do it now." In vain the 
good pastor protested his good intentions. 
Finally, seeing kind words were of no avail, the 
Reverend gentleman resorted to stronger argu- 
ments, and turning suddenly upon his assailant, 
with one well-directed blow, laid him low in 
the dust, where he held him till he had secured 
all the promises he required. And all the peo- 
ple said, "Amen!" 



210 MOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 



XXV 



My interesting neighbor, the Reverend T. G. 
Brainerd, of whom I have already spoken, was 
graduated from Yale College in 1830. He has 
told me of his admiration for the shrewdness 
and practical wisdom with which President 
Day was accustomed to judge the young men 
who came to him as strangers. Of some of 
them he would say, "O, they are second gener- 
ation men." "And what do you mean by that, 
Mr. President?" he would be asked. "I mean 
just this," the wise old man would reply; "they 
are men whose fathers have become suddenly 
rich, and I expect but little of them. I have 
observed that it is the general rule among those 
families to whom riches come suddenly, that 
the course from poverty to wealth and back to 
poverty again, takes but three generations. Of 
the first and third you may make men. For 
the unfortunate second generation there is little 
hope." This remark has been brought to my 
mind more than once, as I have reviewed the 



IIOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 211 

history of the families of Hollis, The poor 
soil upon which the town was placed gave re- 
turns only to persistent and faithful industry. 
No great natural advantages of any sort existed 
whereby it was possible to acquire sudden 
riches. The high ambition prevalent among 
Hollis families from the beginning, to secure 
for their children the best of moral and educa- 
tional advantages, could be gratified only by 
means of close economy and stern self-denial. 
There could not be, there never had been, any 
of President Day's "second generation men." 
Possibly some of the good people of Hollis 
may sometimes have suffered the heartache of 
discouragement and disappointment. They 
may sometimes have been tempted to envy the 
more prosperous dwellers in the new towns of 
Lowell, Nashua, Manchester and Lawrence, as 
they watched those settlements grow swiftly 
into cities, while many a poor man found him- 
self possessed of sudden wealth, and all within 
the space of my own lifetime. If such there 
were, I think their troubled hearts might have 
been set at rest, could they have had vouch- 
safed them the sweeping glance of supernatural 



212 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

vision, backward and forward over the hundred 
and fifty years of the work of Hollis men and 
women. Could they have reah'zed in their days 
of trial, the blessings which would flow forth 
like a perennial stream, from that obscure New 
Hampshire village, to refresh and beautify and 
bless the world, they might, indeed, have been 
quite content to go on raising only men and 
women, unenvious of others who set cotton 
mills to spinning, or gathered mighty crops of 
golden grain into their bursting barns. I know 
no village with a prouder record, judged in the 
light of eternity. "Many daughters have done 
virtuously, but thou excellest them all." Who 
can count the numbers who have gone forth 
from Hollis during that hundred and fifty years, 
armed and equipped for the world's great bat- 
tle with evil? Could the recording angel show 
to us a list of their names — the earnest minis- 
ters of God, scattered from end to end of this 
great country, the good men and strong, to be 
found in all the professions and in every sort 
of business, the true and noble women, leading 
the van in all movements for progress and re- 
form, the multitudes of active, devoted disciples 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 21 3 

of the Master, living their quiet, faithful lives 
and making the world daily better for their liv- 
ing, — I think we should stand confounded at 
the splendid harvest from that sterile Hollis 
soil. 

This line of thought has, perhaps, been al- 
ready amply illustrated in preceding letters, 
but I wish to give one more example. There 
was a certain little boy born in Hollis some 
twenty years before myself. Let us follow him 
and his children, and see something of what 
that single family has done in and for the world. 

Ralph was the name of the boy, and he came 
of good Puritan stock through both parents. 
From those older than myself I have learned 
that his early days were passed much like those 
of many another New England boy. He as- 
sisted his good father and mother with the farm 
and home work, played upon the village com- 
mon, and made one of the studious pupils of 
the Center school. Having fitted for college, 
he entered Yale and was graduated with the 
highest honors, in 1811, at the age of twenty- 
four. After two years of teaching in the col- 
lege and a course of theological study, there 



214 HOLT.IS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

followed thirteen years of pastoral work at 
Norfolk, Conn., whence he was called to fill 
the chair of Ecclesiastical History and Pastoral 
Theology in the Theological Seminary at 
Andover, Mass. During the quarter of a cen- 
tury of his distinguished labors in the Seminary 
he was also a welcome contributor to various 
theological periodicals, and the author of sev- 
eral valuable works. Two of his nephews, 
Willis and Edwards Hall, had also the good 
fortune to be fitted for college by their eminent 
relative during this portion of his career. They 
both became distinguished men in New York 
City. Professor Emerson — for it is hardly 
meet that I should longer presume to use his 
boyish name in speaking of the honored and 
venerable Doctor of Divinity — resigned his 
position in the Seminary in 1854, though nine 
ripe years of his long and useful life remained. 
When at last the summons came, it was from 
Rockford, 111., that he went to Heaven. The 
good wife with whom he had passed so many 
happy years, was Eliza Rockwell, of Colebrook, 
Conn. Her family was said to have the happy 
gift of being "proud but not lofty." All of 





C^^^^'^S^^-^:^^^^^ 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 21 5 

their nine children grew to manhood and 
womanhood, and seven yet live. I think I may 
say that all have proved talented men or women 
and possessed of far more than ordinary powers 
of usefulness. 

What a group of noble children that must 
have been, gathered in that blessed Christian 
home! Let us fancy them clustered round 
their happy parents in their Andover home, 
while we name them over and briefly indicate 
their life-work. 

Daniel followed his father into the ministry, 
and now lives in advanced years and feeble 
health, in North Kingsville, Ohio. 

Mary became the wife of Professor Joseph 
Haven, of Amherst College, and removed with 
him to Chicago when he accepted a position 
in the Theological Seminary there. She is 
now a widow with four surviving children. She 
is described as "a woman of influence, engaged 
in every good work." 

We, in the west, are familiar with the name 
of Professor Joseph Emerson, the second of 
Dr, Ralph Emerson's sons, who has been for 
many years professor of Greek in Beloit Col- 



2l6 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

lege. He is a graduate of Yale and Andover, 
and was for a time tutor at Yale. He has two 
children, and there are also in his family two 
of the fourth generation of the descendants of 
the good HoUis deacon, Daniel Emerson. 

Rockwell, also a graduate of Yale College, 
became a lawyer in New York City, and died 
there, leaving five children. 

Samuel resides in Virginia. Like so many 
of the family, he is a graduate of Yale and 
Andover, He is yet unmarried. 

Ralph is a well known manufacturer of Rock- 
ford, 111., noted not only for business energy, 
but for large-hearted benevolence as well. His 
three sons have all been taken from him. Five 
daughters remain, nearly all of whom have 
been graduated from Wellesley College. 

Poiter is the only other one of Dr. Ralph 
Emerson's nine children whose earthly life has 
closed. His death took place recently in Rock- 
ford. 

Elizabeth is the wife of Rev. S. J. Humphrey, 
D. D., Secretary A. B. C. F. M., and resides in 
Oak Park, 111. She has a large measure of the 
family talent for literary and benevolent work, 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 21/ 

and her facile pen does valuable work for mis- 
sionary and other worthy causes. 

Rev. William B. Brown, D. D., of East 
Orange, N. J., has married the last of Doctor 
Emerson's daughters and the youngest of his 
children. Mrs. Charlotte Emerson Brown is 
one of the leading women of the country. A 
graduate of Abbott Seminary at Andover, she 
has been ever since her school days a persist- 
ent and diligent student. Many years of travel 
and residence at different times in foreign 
lands have made her a fluent speaker and writer 
in many tongues, including modern Greek ac- 
quired during a long stay in Athens. Not sat- 
isfied with the high degree of literary culture 
which she had attained, on coming to reside in 
Rockford she soon secured a thorough busi- 
ness education also, at one of the best Chicago 
business colleges; and to make her new know- 
ledge practical, she entered the business house 
of her brother Ralph, as his private secretary. 
She was for a time teacher of modern languages 
in Rockford College, but on her marriage, 
about twelve years ago, removed to the East, 
where her busy intellectual life continues. 



2l8 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

Mrs. Brown has been president of many liter- 
ary clubs, and has now served for some years 
as president of the "General Federation of 
Woman's Literary Clubs," whose biennial 
meeting in Chicago last spring was a gathering 
of a large number of the brightest and most 
notable women of the land, including also some 
from foreign countries. 

Of the third generation of this remarkable 
family there is something to be said, notwith- 
standing the youth of most of its members. 
Ralph Wilcox, son of Rev. Daniel Emerson, is 
one of the most promising young men in Rock- 
ford, 111. Dr. Joseph Haven, an eminent physi- 
cian in Chicago, is the son of Mrs. Mary Emer- 
son Haven. Miss Clara Emerson, daughter of 
Prof. Joseph Emerson, took high honors in 
Greek at Wellesley College. Mrs. Adeline 
Emerson Thompson, a Wellesley graduate in 
1880, and a daughter of Ralph Emerson, of 
Rockford, should receive special mention as 
the president of that most modern, most pro- 
gressive and most promising benevolent enter- 
prise, "The College Settlement Society of 
America." She is also president of the New 





'A>CIa/!^^^u5 (^1?^^^.^^>>^o/^^^2<^>«X- 



HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 219 

York Branch of Collegiate Alumnae. All these 
are noble and worthy descendants of the little 
Hollis boy, Ralph Emerson, whose parents 
early trained his feet to walk in the right way. 

And now I am about to lay down my pen. 
I have arrived at a point where I can sympa- 
thize with a certain writer who was the author 
of a work upon "The Beauties of the Psalms." 
At the close of the volume he says, "No one 
of these delightful poems has given me the 
least uneasiness except the last. That has 
grieved me because it has made me realize that 
my work was done." I began this series of 
letters without any very definite plan, but cer- 
tainly with no thought of making it so extended. 
The pleasant task of reviewing the history of 
my early home and refreshing my memories of 
the noble men and women who have dwelt 
there, and through whom such wide-spread in- 
fluences for good have gone forth to bless the 
world, has led me on, till, to my surprise, I find 
that my closing letter bears a date nearly two 
years later than that of my first. 

Whether those beneficent influences shall 



220 HOLLIS SEVENTY YEARS AGO. 

continue to flow forth from future generations 
of the descendants of Hollis families, depends 
upon whether or not they adhere to the princi- 
ples of their ancestors. 

As one of the children of Hollis, now old and 
white-headed, I would that I might gather all 
her children within sound of my voice, while 
I might most solemnly speak to them, as my 
parting words, some of the last of the words of 
David the King, to Solomon his son, and to the 
people whom he was to rule no longer: 

"Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the congre- 
gation of the Lord, and in the audience of our God, keep 
and seek for all the commandments of the Lord your 
God; that ye may possess this good land, and leave it 
for an inheritance for your children after you forever. 
And thou Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy 
father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a 
willing mind, for the Lord searcheth all hearts and un- 
derstandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts. If 
thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou for- 
sake him, he will cast thee off forever." 



APPEN DIX. 



From the Corigregational Church of Hollis. 

The Congregational Church of Mollis, N. H., convened 
in its annual meeting and reunion, December 31, 1891, 
adopted the following: 

Resolved, That the thanks of this church be presented 
Deacon Henry G. Little, of Grinnell, Iowa (a native of 
this town), for the interesting letters he has so kindly 
furnished the Mollis Tipies during the last year, entitled 
"Recollections of Seventy Years Ago," and that a min- 
ute of this resolution be entered upon the records, and a 
copy forwarded to Deacon Little, attested by the pastor 
and clerk. 

Attest:— A true copy. 

Samuel L. Gerould, Pastor. 
Ellen H. Lovejoy, Clerk. 

From L. P. Hubbard, Esq. 

New York, June 25, 1894. 
Hon. Henry G. Little: 

Fsteejned Friend : — I have long cherished the hope 
that I should live to see your series of letters, "Hollis, 
Seventy Years Ago," which appeared in the Mollis Ti^nes 
about two years since, published in a more permanent 



222 APPENDIX. 

form. The letters abound in historical facts not to be 
found elsewhere, and a moral tone pervades them that 
will promote their usefulness. 

Very Truly Yours, 

Luther Prescott Hubbard. 

From Rev. S. L. Geroiild. 

HoLLis, N. H., Sept. 3, 1894. 
My Dear Mr. Little: 

Some months ago you contributed to the columns 
of our local newspaper a series of letters, giving your 
recollections of the people of this place a half-century 
and more ago, I have many times wished that these 
could be put into a more perma^ient form, so that they 
could be preserved for future use. The historian of this 
town, in these letters, would find much light thrown upon 
the manners and customs of the early inhabitants of the 
place, as well as upon the people, that could be found 
nowhere else. May I, therefore, ask that, if you can see 
your way to do it, you will have them printed in some 
form that will enable us to preserve them for the future. 
Sincerely Yours, 

S. L. Gerould, 

Pastor Congregational Church. 

Fro7n Mr. Daniel Hay den. 
To the Editor of the Hollis Times: 

I desire to publicly thank "H. G. L." for his inter- 
esting letters, giving reminiscences of Hollis seventy 



APPENDIX. 223 

I 

years ago. I readily recall and remember all of the per- 
sons mentioned. I was privileged to drive the oxen 
belonging to Captain J. T. Wheeler, which have been 
mentioned. Although a few years older than "H G. L.," 
I still take a deep interest in old Mollis, the place of my 
nativity, as I remember it seventy years ago. 
Very Respectfully Yours, 

Daniel Hayden. 
Marlborough, Massachusetts. 

[Born June 28, i8og; the only survivor of the nine children of the 
late Josiah and Mary (Patch) Hayden.] 

From Miss L. E. Worcester. 

I am very glad to know the Letters are to be published, 

and await the appearance of the little volume with 

pleasure. 

L. E. Worcester. 
Hollis, 8—12, 1894. 

From Mrs. Charlotte Emerso?t Browft. 

I read the "Recollections" that were forwarded to me 
with much interest, and feel sure that the Hollis people 
and their descendants would be very glad to have copies 
of them in permanent form. * * * The idea is well 
conceived and well executed as to style and thought, 
and will be useful in book form, not only at the present 
time, but for the filling out of history in later genera- 
tions. Yours Very Truly, 

Charlotte Emerson Brown. 

East Orange, N. J. 



224 APPENDIX. 

From Professor William F. Bradbury. 
Head Master Cambridge Latin School. 

Cambridge, Mass., Aug. 31, 1894. 
Hon. H. G. Little: 

My Dear Sir : — I have heard a suggestion that you 
might be induced to put into book-form your reminis- 
cences of the good old town of Mollis (N. H.). I hope 
most earnestly that you will do so. It is too bad not to 
keep the memories of our fathers and mothers green. 
I shall be delighted to see the work done. 
Truly Yours, 

W. F. Bradbury. 

From Benj. Edmund Messer, Esq. 

Anacostia, D. C, August 30, 1894. 
Hon. Henry G. Little: 

Dear Sir:— I had the pleasure of reading several 
of your series of letters published in the Hollis paper a 
few years ago. They were a graphic recital of scenes and 
events which occurred in that beautiful inland town sev- 
enty years ago. Those letters were interesting in them- 
selves, deeply so to the few survivors, and would be to 
their children and their children's children, down to 
generations unborn. 

I hope you may put them into book form and thus pre- 
serve that large amount of matter, historic and biograph- 
ical, which you have embodied in those letters. I was 
twelve years old at the point where you commence your 
letters. I knew all the old people in Hollis at that time. 



APPENDIX. 225 

That generation has long since passed a*way, and the 
fifth is now upon the stage. I know whereof you write 
in many of the scenes depicted. I had forgotten many 
until you unrolled the panorama and gave me a review 
of those happy days in the springtime of life when hope 
edges with gold our fond anticipations. 

Wishing you abundant success in the enterprise should 
you enter upon it, I remain— as in childhood, so in old 
age, 

Your Friend, 

B. E. Messer. 



Index of Persons. 





PAGE 


BALDWIN- 




ADAMS- 




Mr., 


148 


Abigail Smith, 


165, 166 


Ebenezer, 


157, 158 


Pres. John 


70, 165 


Rebecca, 


148 


William, 


92 


Thomas, 


148 


ABBOTT- 




BANCROFT— M 


rs. Farley, 122 


Abial, 


40 


BEECHER-Lyi 


nan, 165 


Benjamin, 


40 


BLOOD- 




ALVORD- 




Ebenezer, 


171 


Louise, 


185 


Elizabeth A.. 


171 


Max Barrows, 


183 


George H., 


170, 172 


AMES- 




HattieM., 


174 


Burpee, 


log, 206, 207 


Dr. Josiah, 


171 


M. Nathan, 


208 


Mary A., 


170, 172, 173. 174 


Sarah, 


12S 


BOUTWELL— 




William. 


89. 125, 208 


George S., 


42 


AUSTIN- 




Mrs. Sarah Thnyer, 42 


Benjamin, 


41 


BOYLSTON-Richard, 117 


Christopher, 


41, 42 


BOYNTON- 




Daniel, 


41 


John, 


198 


Jefferson, 


41 


Moses, 


160 


Luther, 


41 


Mrs. Sarah Tenney, 79. 198 


Mr., 


40, 140 


BRADLEY— Ezekiel, 160 


Mary, 


41 


BRAINERD- 




Noah, 


41 


Rev. T. G., 


78, 210 


Page, 


41. 139. 140 


BRADBURY- 




Stephen, 


41 


Edward E., 


167, 168, 169 


AVERY-Mr., 


106, 190 


Mrs. Eliza Emerson, 


BAILEY- 






163, 164, 166, 168 


Captain, 


14C, 147. 157 


Esther C, 


168 


Leonard, 


148 


William F., 
William S., 


166, 167, 168, 169 






162, 


, 163, 164, 166, 168 



227 



228 


INDEX. 






PAGE 




PAGE 


BROOKS-Mary Ann, 


39 


Moses, 


41 


BROWN- 




Nathan, Jr., 


141, 143 


Mrs. Charlotte Emerson, 


Nathan, Sr., 


140, 142 




217. 218 


Robert. 


93 


Rev. William B., 


217 


William, 


156 


W. G., 


40 


COMBS- 




BURGE- 




Leonaid, 


192 


Abbie, 


176 


Mrs. Lucinda D. 


192 


ex., 


99 


CONANT- 




Cyrus, 


99 


Elias, 


26, 104 


Deacon, 


19, 21, 99 


Jewett, 


120 


Edwin A.. 


176 


Josiah, 


26,63 


Ephraim, 


80, 82 


Mrs. Josiah, 


63 


Martha, 


176 


Sarah, 


63 


BUTTERFIELD- 




COX— Rev. Sam'l H. 


70 


Sewall,- 26, 67, 103 


CUMMINGS- 




Miss. 


107' 


Thomas, 26, 


150, 195. 196 


CHANNING- 




CUTTER- 




Ruth, 


79 


Dr. Benoni, 


63 


Dr. William Ellery, 


79 


Mrs. Benoni, 


24, 64, 79 


CLOUGH- 




B. G., 


25 


Cyrus, 


40 


JohnH., 


64 


Richard, 


40 


DAY- 




COBBETT-Isaac, 


188 


Albert, 


179 


COLBURN- 




Charles, 


178 


Bradley, 


i6i 


Edward, 


179 


Edward, 


156 


Eugene E., 


180 


E.J.. 




Dr. P. B., 64, 


178, 179, 180 


41, 138, 141, 142, 143 


;, 206, 208 


Mrs. P. B., 


177. 178 


Erie, 


41. 143 


President, 


210, 211 


James, 


142, 143 


DOW— 




John, 


161 


Jeremiah. 


48.98 


Lucinda, 


41, 143 


Sarah Eastman, 


127 


Lydia, 


41 







[NDEX. 



229 



EASTMAN- 




Sarah, 


114 


Abigail, 


127 


Samuel, 


216 


Alpheus, 


14, 18, 89 


William, 48. So. 


99, 114 


Amos, 


88, 8g 


William, Jr., 


114 


Charles, 


25 


EV ARTS- William M., 


73 


Eleanor, 


121 


FARLEY- 




Jonathan, 


121 


Abel, 


137 


Joseph, 


126 


Abigail Hardy, 


189 


Joseph F., 


125, 126 


Adolphus, 


39 


Porter, 


121 


Alfred, 


137 


Sophia, 


126 


Alonzo, 


39 


William Plummer, 90 


Amos, 


39 


EATON— Clarissa Farley, 65 


Mrs. Anna Merrill, 


188 


EMERSON- 




Asa, 


105, 160 


Amy Fletcher, 


III 


"Ben," 


121 


Benjamin, 


24 


Benjamin, 


88 


Charles, 


114 


Benjamin, Jr., 


188 


Clara, 


218 


Capt. Benjamin, 88, 


131. 137 


Rev. Daniel, 




Benjamin Mark, 




53, 76, no. Ill, 


140, 163, 164 


23, 88, 121, 


122, 129 


Mrs. Daniel, 24 


, 2S, 163, 164 


Clarissa, 


39 


Deacon Daniel, 


110, III, 216 


Daniel, 


155 


Daniel, 


21; 


Enoch, 


189 


Edward, 


116, 166 


Henry, 


39 


Eliza, 163, 


164, 166. 168 


Isaac, 26 


u 39. 132 


Mrs. Eliza Rockwell, 214 


James, 


198 


Rev. Joseph, 24, 


III, 112, 113 


Jefferson, 


88. 137 


Prof. Joseph, 


215, 218 


Mrs. Jefferson, 


88, 131 


Porter, 


216 


Joanna, 


132, 134 


Ralph, 


216, 217, 218 


Leonard W., 107, 123. 


124. 137 


Rev. Ralph, 




Mrs. Leonard W., 


107 


iir, 213, 


214, 215, 2iq 


Mary, 


39.66 


Ralph Wilcox, 


218 


Page. 26, 65, 66, 


116, 162 


Rockwell, 


216 


Perry, 


137 



230 




INDEX. 








PAGE 


HALE- 


PAGE 


FARLF.Y (continued) 


- 




David, 


130 


Sarah, 




39 


John, 


130 


Sybil Holt, 




105, 160 


Frescott, 


158 


"Squire," Sr., 


56, 65, 107 


Dr. Wm., 22, 23, 


25, 66, 89, 158 


Stephen, 132, 133, 


134, 


135. X36 


William E., 


67 


Stephen, Jr., 




132 


HALL— 




Deacon Thomas, 




22, 160 


Edwards, 


214 


Thomas, Jr., 




160 


Willis, 


214 


William, 




lOI 


HARDY- 




FLAGG- 






Amos, 


128, 150 


Capt., 




92, 160 


Clarissa, 


148 


Mrs., 




93 


Daniel, 


128 


FLETCHER- 






Eli, 


128 


Amos, 




192 


Dea. Enos, 


21, 22, 25, 197 


Mrs. Abigail T., 




192 


Mrs. Enos, 


197 


FRENCH- 






Mrs. Hannah S. 


198 


Hannah, 




115 


James, 


89 


Silas, 




156 


Jesse, 


128, 150, 160 , 


FROTHINGHAM- 






Joel, 127 


, 128, 129, 130 


Major, 




164 


Mrs. Joel, 


127, 160 


Esther, 




164 


Louis, 


, 198^ 


GIFFIN- 






Luther, 


128, 198 


Lida, 




184 


Noah, 


22, 23, 25, 198 ^ 


Mrs., 




184 


Page, 


148 


GOULD- 






Phineas, 


128, 198 


Abijah, 




26 


Rodney J., 


129, 130 ^■ 


Ambrose, 24, So, u6, i 


[17. 118 


Sarah Tenney, 


84 V 


GRANT— 






Solomon, 


145. 148, 193 . 


General, 


42, 


83, 159 


Solomon, Jr., 


147. 148 . 


Miss Z. P., 




112 


Submit, 


198/ 


GRIDLEY— Mrs., 




183 


HAVEN- 




GRINNELL— Mrs. J. 


B., 


17S 


Dr, Joseph, 


218 


HAGGETT-Amos, 




92 


Prof. Joseph, 


215 



Mrs. Mary Emerson, 215, 218 



[NDEX. 



231 



PAGE 

HAYDEN- 

Daniel W.. U9 

David N., 149 

Josiah, 149 

Lydia, I49 

Samuel, H9, 204 

Susan, H9 

HILL— Rev. Mr., 208 

HINES- 

Rev. F. B., 176 

Mrs. Laura S., i7d 

HOLDEN- 

Caroline, 42, 109 

Mr., 124 

HOLT- 

Artemas, I04 

Fitield, io4 

Mr. J. B.. 194 

Nathan, 100, 103 

Sybil, 105. 160 

HOLYOKE- 

Thomas Stoddard, 44 

HOWARD— Mrs. Sullivan, 182 
HUBBARD- 

Benjamin Farley, 74 

Captain, I33 

Mrs. Captain, I33 

Frederick Augustus, 73 

John Theodore, 74 

Major Luther, 68, 6g, 70, 7h 75 
Luther Frescott, 

69, 70, 71, 84, 96, "6, 205 
Luther Frescott, Jr., 

71, 72, 73 



P.\GE 

Mrs. Mary Tenney, 71. 84 

Miss Mary Tenney, 73 

William Norris, 73 
HUMPHREY- 

Rev. S. J., 216 
Mrs. Elizabeth Emerson, 216 
HURD- 

Mrs. Dr., 185 
JEWETT- 
Deacon E., 

21, 25, 99, lot, 114, 151 

Eliza, 109 

Gibson, 99, 119 

Jack, 109 

Nathaniel, loi, 160 

Noah, 99 

Phebe, 76 

Ralph, 109 
JOHNSON- 

Mr., 160 

Edward, 160 

Noah, i6o 

JONES-Dr., 157. 193 

KEMP— Levi, 93 

KENDALL-Hezokiah, 190. 191 
KIMBALL- 

Lucinda Tenney, 79 

KIRK— Mrs. Chas. W., 183 
KITTREDGE- 

William, 190 

Mrs. William, 190 
LAWRENCE— 

Daniel, 89, 90 

Jonas, 93 



232 


INDEX. 






PAGE 




PAGE 


Lawrence (continued)- 


- 


LVON-Mary, 


112 


Luke, 


91 


MACY- 




Mark, 


91 


Katharine Haworth, 


18; 


LINCOLN-Pres. Abrah 


I am, 201 


MARSHALL- 




LITTLE- 




Darwin, 


103 


Abner B.. 39, 181, 


, 183, 185 


Freeman, 


103 


Augustus, 


39. 185 


Thaddeus, 


103 


Caleb. 


39. 183 


McCLURE-Mrs. Daniel 


. 18; 


Caroline, 


39. 185 


McLNTIRE- 




Catharine, 39, 


i82, 185 


Frank K., 


84 


Dr. Charles, 


183 


Mrs. Phebe Tenney, 


84 


Elizabeth. 


39. 182 


MERRILL- 




George, 


iSi, 184 


Daniel, 18, 


19, 106 


Henry G., 


39. 185 


William, 


106 


John, 


184 


Taylor, 


200 


Laura Ann. 


39. is; 


MESSER- 




Mary, 


39. 182 


Benjamin. • 


26, 196 


Nancy Tenney, 79, 


181. 1S2 


Mrs. Benjamin, 


197 


Ruth Channing, 39, 


122, 185 


B. Edmund, 49, 


57, 197 


Sarah Francis. 


39. 186 


MOOAR- 




Walter A.. 


186 


Gardncr, 


193 


William. 


39. 183 


Mis. Gardner, 


193 


LOMBARD-Miss Mary, 


, 178 


John, 


194 


LOVEJOV-Ralph. 


105 


Mrs. Rebecca A., 


194 


LUND- 




MOORE-Rev. Humphre> 


■. 189 


Alice, 


41 


NEEDHAM- 




Danforth, 


41 


Jeremiah K., 


193 


Irene, 


41 


Mrs. Olive Parks. 


193 


Martha, 


41 


Mrs. Whitney. 


193 


Noahdiah, 


41 


Mrs. Mary Swallow, 


193 


Rachel, 


41 


Mrs. Carlton, 


193 


Stephen. 


41. 143 


NEVIN-Ruth Channing, 


185 


Sophronia, 


41 


NOBLE-Rev. T. K., 


168 


LVMAX-Henry G., 


IS; 


OBER-Zachariah. 


193 



NDEX. 



233 



ORCUTT-Rufus. 


191 


PROCTOR- 






PARKER- 




Aaron, 40. 


, 127. 


137, 138 


Isaac, 


192 


Cyrus, 




138, 139 


James, 


25, 201 


Indiana, 




40 


James, Jr., 138, 


, 159. 160 


Ira, 




40, 139 


Mrs. James, 


200 


James, 




40,93 


John, 


193 


John, 




40 


Mrs. Mary Ann Goul 


Id, 193 


Luther, 




40, 93 


Major, 


107 


Maria, 




40 


Samuel, 


158 


Mary, 




40 


PATCH- 




Moses, 


40, 


138, 139 


Joseph, 25, iiS, 


160, 200 


Nathaniel, 


40, 


139. 140 


Mrs. Joseph, 


160, 201 


Olive, 




40 


Richard, 


200 


Susan, 




40 


Thomas, 


200 


Thomas, 40, 


138. 


139, 140 


Thomas, Jr., 


198 


Mrs. Thomas, 




40 


PAULL-Mr., 


65 


PUTNAM- 






PERKINS- 




Mrs. Emeline Te 


nnei 


.-. 84 


Deacon, 


176 


QUAID- 






George W.. 176, 


177, 184 


Samuel, 




26, 106 


Mrs. George W., 


184 


Sarah Boynton, 




106 


Mrs. John, 


43 


RADOUX-Francis, 




120 


"Sam," 


177 


READ— Winslow, 




103 


l^ERRY-Rev. David, 


129, 182 


REED- 






PIERCE- 




Harriett, 




39 


Eleazer, 


40 


Jesse, 




91 


Nathaniel, 


40 


Uriah, 


39. 


40, 154 


PILLSBURY-C. A., 


73 


RIDEOUT, Sally. 




41 


POOL- 




RIPLEY-Miss, 




122 


Benjamin, 


98 


ROGERS- 






John, 


98 


Benjamin, 




192 


Squire, ;o, 83, 98, 


107, 160 


John, 




143 


PRICE-Mr., 


119 


Mrs. Lydia S., 




192 



234 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

RUNNELLS- 

Mr. D. S., 102 

Ebenezer. loi, 102, 103 

Mrs. Sarah Farley. 189 

Samnel, loi. 102 • 

SARGENT-John. i93 

SAUNDERSON- 

George W., 171. i7r 

Mrs. Hannaii M.. 108. 17-, 
Henry, loS 

Jonathan. 107. 108. 176 

Laura, i7: 

William P.. 108, 175 

SAWTELLE- 

Captain, iji 

Eli, 14:-. 146 

Hannah, lO^ 

SCRIPTURE— Dr.. 22. 23. 2;- 

SHEDD- 

Ebenezer, 187 

Mrs. Elizabeth D.. 1^7 

John, 157 

SMALL-Mr., 116 

SMITH- 

Amy, 113 

Mrs. Amy Emerson. 

16. 63, 113 
Benjamin, loi 

Catharine, "3 

Christopher, 63 

Daniel, 161 

Rev. Eli, 13. 16. 19. 53. 92. 
108. 113. 137. 140. 145' 155 
John, 113 



PAGE 

Joseph E.. , 113 

Luther, 113 

Rev. Mr., 163 

SPAULDING- 

Mrs. Abiah Bowers, 191 

Asapii, 191 

Capt., 149 

C. S., 1S7. 191 

SQUIRES-Mrs.. 1S3 

STEVENS-Mrs., 39. 137 

STEWART- 

Mrs. Sarah Frances Little, 186 
STURTEVANT-Rev. Dr., 179 
SUMNER-Charles, 20S 

SWEET-Mr., 20; 

TENNEV— 

Caleb Jewett, 77. 78. 79. 99 
Charles F., 86 

Harriet Maria. So, s'4 

Mrs. Phebe Smith. 82. 83 
Mrs. Phebe Jewett, 76. 80, 82 
Kalpli A., 13. 84. 83 

Ralph E., 48. 30. 7?. 79. 80, 
82, 83. 86. 130 
Mrs. Sally Cutter, 75 

Wm., 7:. 76. 79. 80 

Mrs. Wm.. 76 

Capt. Wm., 76, 79 

THAYER- 

Nathan. 26. 61, 62. 99 

Sarah, 42 

THOMPSON- 

Mrs. Adeline Emerson, 218 
THURSTON-Dea. Stephen, iS 



NDEX. 



235 



PAGE 

TODD- 

Rev. John, 56 

Mrs. J. F., 184 
VIETS- 

Harry L., 184 

Sara E.. 18; 

WARNER— Mrs. Wallace, 186 

WASHINGTON-General, 164 

WEBSTER-Daniel, 77 

WELLS-Mrs. C. W., 183 

WHETAT-Coolidge, 57, i97 
WHEELER- 

Mrs. Catharine Little, 

182, 18; 

James, iS? 
Captain J. T., 

150, 202, 203, 204, 205 

Minot, 155 

Thaddeus, 153 

Varniim, 200 

WILLOUGHBY- 

Ethan, i()7 

Noah, 197 

Oliver, 151 

Oliver, Jr., 151 

WITHINGTON-Matthew, 91 
WOOD- 
C. A., 

147, 149, 133, 154, 198, 200, 204 

Lewis, 131 

Mercy, i;i 



PAGE 

Moses, 198 

Philip, 145, 147, 148, 149, 205 
Philip, Jr., 147 

Mrs. Submit Hardy, 198 

William, 104, 149 

WOODS- 

Deacon, 22 

James, 119 

John, 39 

Nehemiah, 25, 119 

Nehemiah Park, 119 

WORCESTER- 

David, 96 

Frederick, 42 

Hannah, 14, 15 

Jesse, 79, 82, 93, 94, 96 

John N.. 46, 93, 95 

Joseph E., 95 

Judge, 97, i57 

Miss L. E., 93 

Mrs. Sarah Holden, 109 

Mrs. Sarah Parker, 94 

T. Oilman, 95 

WRIGHT— 

Capt. Jonathan Taylor, 

14, 100, 153, 198, 199, 200 
Gains, 41 

Gains, Jr., 41 

Miles, 100, 160 

Winkle, 100, 153, 154 

YATES-Gov. Richard, 201 












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